Bang Bang: Part One Kirei Kitty
by Sweet and Sour Suki
Summary: Kagome Higurashi is known as Kirei Kitty, bounty hunter extraordinaire, and is part of the dyanamic duo of the SangoKagome seek and retrieval squad. SesshoMaru is a love from the past, and suddenly comes back into her life with a bounty on his head!


Are you guys scared yet?  
  
**Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)  
  
By, Nancy Sinatra  
  
I was five and he was six  
  
We rode on horses made of sticks  
  
He wore black and I wore white  
  
He would always win the fight  
  
Bang bang, he shot me down  
  
Bang bang, I hit the ground  
  
Bang bang, that awful sound  
  
Bang bang, my baby shot me down  
  
Seasons came and changed the time  
  
When I grew up, I called him mine  
  
He would always laugh and say  
  
"Remember when we used to play?"  
  
Bang bang, I shot you down  
  
Bang bang, you hit the ground  
  
Bang bang, that awful sound  
  
Bang bang, I used to shoot you down  
  
Music played and people sang  
  
Just for me the church bells rang  
  
Now he's gone. I don't know why  
  
And till this day, sometimes I cry  
  
He didn't even say goodbye  
  
He didn't take the time to lie  
  
Bang bang, he shot me down  
  
Bang bang, I hit the ground  
  
Bang bang, that awful sound  
  
Bang bang, my baby shot me down**  
  
Story coming soon!  
  
Chapter One  
  
"...Kitty!?"  
  
"Bunny!?"  
  
"Foxy!?"  
  
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS MIROKU!?" All three bounty hunters screamed at their boss's face, holding up small square pieces of plastic in their hands: the business cards they had been dreading. Miroku's idea of course. The young man sighed behind his desk, and folded his hands behind his head, watching the ceiling fan whirl around and around and around... it was making him dizzy. But so was the heat.  
  
"I just thought it would be easier for everyone to have codenames." He exclaimed innocently, not making eye contact with any of his employees.  
  
"Black Panther is a code name, Miroku. Not Snickerdoodle and Fluff ball." Kagome Higurashi snarled, looking down at her plastic business card with utter loathing. She pulled away her face before she threw up on it. For God sake's, hers was a bright pink with little anime cats prancing around on it that were singing, 'Kirei Kitty, Kirei Kitty'! (pretty kitty, pretty kitty) At least Sango got a normal color like yellow! This was ridiculous! She was at team member of the seek out and retrieval squad, not a teenage version of cat woman!  
  
"I don't recall giving any of you the names Snickerdoodle or Fluff Ball. As for Black Panther, that's a cop codename. We're not cops." Miroku pointed out, playing with the small black ponytail that resided behind hi head.  
  
"They're code names! What's the difference!?" A young man on Kagome's left huffed. His name was Shippou, and he was new at the agency. But that didn't mean he didn't know what was idiotic or not. His card was a dark orange, and a very similar version of Wylie E. Coyote (only fox-style) was panting at the bottom from what seemed like lack of water, since he was crossing a bare desert. The cartoon fox was trying to reach a cactus...  
  
"Why do we even need code names? Isn't that a little childish? Aren't these a little childish?" Kagome's best friend and fellow bounty hunter questioned softly. She wouldn't admit it, but she kind of liked her name: Bunny. Very cute. And her business card wasn't quite as vibrant as Kagome's, with a soft yellow background sporting carrots and little white rabbit heads floating about. It wasn't something to hand out at business parties, but then again, how many of those had she attended in the past month? Bounty hunters weren't the most huggable people of the justice bunch. Respected, definitely, but not loved. They didn't obey the rules. There aren't any guidelines in their profession, just big guns and bigger bounty heads.  
  
"I think if you give them a chance, they'll grow on you." Miroku smiled brightly at Sango, who he had taken an interest to in the past few months she and Kagome had been working for him. He was known for his perverted ness and asserting actions, and the word 'hentai' was associated with his name quite often. The girls knew this all too well.  
  
"I doubt it." Kagome muttered under her breath, tucking her business card into the back pocket of her Levis. She gave an exasperated look at Sango, who shrugged and tossed her card into her purse. Shippou looked like he was about to rip his up.  
  
"Be careful with those. I got them laminated so they won't be destroyed so easily, because I only ordered one set. So don't lose them!" Their boss warned, settling back into his black leather chair and looking over at the three from behind his big oak desk.  
  
The three perked at the news that he only had one set. If they 'lost' them, he couldn't give them more!  
  
"I know what you're all thinking, so I've told Koharu at the front desk to check for your business cards every morning, since they double as your I.D.'s. Don't got a card, you don't come in for work. Don't come in for work, you don't get your papers. Don't get your papers, can't get your bounty head. Catch my drift?" Miroku grinned at them evilly. They all swallowed and double-checked their cards were close by.  
  
"Good. Now that that's done with... Sango, Kagome, congrats on bringing that Jaken kid in. Did you two deposit your money yet?"  
  
"Hell yeah!" Kagome clapped her hands in excitement, a dreamy look coming to her eyes. "And I'm gonna go hit the sushi bar after work!"  
  
"I'm going to the pet store!" Sango cried out unexpectedly. Kagome quit daydreaming about sushi and brought her head around to Sango.  
  
"You're going to the what!?"  
  
"I'm going to buy a cat with my half of the money!" The taller, and slightly older girl winked. "You don't mind do you?"  
  
"No, I'm just surprised I guess... What about Buyo? What if he doesn't like your cat?" Kagome blinked. Her very fat, very lazy calico cat's name was Buyo, and he had been in Kagome's family for years. She had grown up with Buyo, and had brought him along when she and Sango had moved into a small apartment in the middle of downtown around a year ago, before they had become bounty hunters. Then, they were collage students looking for a job that paid more then minimum wage...  
  
"Buyo likes everyone."  
  
"Why do you want to buy a cat with the bounty money?" Shippou asked innocently. Sango shot him the death look and snubbed him.  
  
"For your information, cats are very loyal and precious creatures. And they always land on their feet, just like me."  
  
"Maybe your name should've been Kitty..." Kagome sighed, tipping back onto two legs of the hard wooden chair she was on. Miroku liked to make his chairs uncomfortable in his office. That way, when a costumer came in, he could rush him or her and persuade them for more dough than they should be giving while they became frustrated with back pains. Worked miracles. He was quite the negotiator.  
  
"Enough about the cat. All's I wanted to do was congratulate you on a job well done, not hear what you were going to do with every cent." Miroku stated firmly but kindly, quieting Sango. "Now, since this will be Shippou's first assignment, I'm going to give you three an easy one. I want you to give him the ropes, show him what to do, and make sure he doesn't have the lines tattooed too bad in his brain." The twenty-something year old tapped his forehead and winked at Kagome and Sango. In other words, he wanted to make sure Shippou didn't obey the rules of the police. Once again, there weren't any rules in this profession, except for three. But they would get to that later.  
  
Kagome and Sango scooted their chairs forward, their faces now set into serious expressions as they began to direct their brains to the work ahead of them. Shippou looked at them, and mimicked their action. He didn't want to do anything wrong in his first week on the job!  
  
Miroku bent down and opened a cabinet in his desk. Fumbling around for a bit, he finally came up with a tan folder that was almost empty, and plopped it onto the wooden surface.  
  
"That's all the information you've got on this guy?" Shippou's mouth dropped disbelievingly. Wouldn't they need more to find whoever it was?  
  
"Correction, this is all of the information I've got on this girl. And small fries come with small info. This girl had a minor DUI, and failed to show up for court day. Probably just blew it off for a shopping trip to the mall." Miroku shrugged and flipped open the file. Two sheets of white paper stared back at all of them.  
  
"Rin Matsumoto. Age, 22. So she's in your guys' age group," Miroku raised an eyebrow at Kagome and Sango, who nodded vigorously. Kagome scrunched up her face.  
  
"Rin Matsumoto... I know that name from somewhere..." She murmured, then shook her head and directed her attention back to Miroku. Sango also had a strange look on her face.  
  
"Occupation, she's a waitress down at the local Bar and Grill. Known for her reputation with the men... Hey, I think I've dated her once..." The black haired man before them squinted down at the candid shot of Rin Matsumoto paper clipped to the edge of the folder.  
  
"You've dated everyone. Big surprise." Kagome urged him on. Miroku shrugged again and continued.  
  
"Anyways... She was pulled over on June 15th for going 75 in a 55 county road. They took one look at her pupils and asked her to step out of the car. Seems like she was around twelve points over the usual safe drinking level... not totally drunk, but around the might-run-over-your-grandma drunk. So they gave her a ticket and drove Rin home. Towed her car... an 04 brand spanking new Jeep, if it makes any difference. Gave her the court date and left. Turns out Miss Matsumoto's daddy is a major business executive for a large electronics company, and is completely loaded. Rin probably thought her dad would get her out of the date and just went on with her life."  
  
"Bounty?" Sango asked seriously, a notepad already out and taking notes with her favorite gel pin. Sparkly purple ink. It was a weird quirk.  
  
"Ahh... 250. Not much. But a start."  
  
Kagome groaned.  
  
"Aw man. I just remembered how I knew her! She was that bitch SesshoMaru ran off with six years ago!"  
  
Sango gasped.  
  
"No way!"  
  
"Yeah, I would never forget that face. I used to dream about punching it in."  
  
"Hee hee... revenge for Kagome!"  
  
"Let's get her!"  
  
"Now now, girls. This is more Shippou's assignment then it is yours." Miroku stopped them, closing the file and handing it to Shippou, who reopened it and glanced at the girl's picture.  
  
"But Miroku..." Kagome pouted, standing up to look over Shippou's shoulder. "Look at her. She's just asking for a good ol' smack down from Kagome Higurashi, code name: Kirei Kitty. Meow."  
  
"Charming." Her boss grinned, but his word was final. "Bring her in by day three, starting now. Or no bounty. You know the song."  
  
"And I sing it every damn day." Kagome smiled back. Sango stood and gripped the neck of Shippou's shirt.  
  
"Come on, Foxy. Time to jet! Tell you what, since this is your first assignment, and since I'm such a nice person, you can have 50% of the 250 and Kagome and I will split the other half." Sango smirked at Shippou who didn't have a chance to say anything since he was pulled up and out the door before he could open his mouth.  
  
"Hey, wait Bunny, I need that money! The rent isn't cheap on our place, you know!" Kagome ran after the two, then came back to grab Sango's forgotten purse. Miroku stopped her from leaving again.  
  
"Hey, before you go anywhere..." He dug around in the top drawer of his desk, looking for something. He finally retracted his hand, holding up a dark blue card.  
  
"If you see Kouga around, be sure to give him this." He winked. It was another business card, only this one was a deep blue, with a cartoon wolf on the front being pinned to the bottom of the plastic by a large yellow moon. In the middle of the card, it read, 'Kouga Tao Young' and then in finer print, 'Code name: Wolfie'.  
  
"Oh, he'll love that." Kagome grinned. Kouga was another bounty hunter that chose to have a solo career, while Kagome worked with Sango and at the moment, Shippou too. He was tough and experienced, and was known to have a huge thing for Higurashi. Kagome waved goodbye, sticking Kouga's new card into her other pocket, and ran off. Miroku sighed and leaned back in his chair, turning to look out the window and watch the three of them race out of the parking lot in Sango's red convertible mini (a present from a previous bounty head's major moolah).  
  
"I have the feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship."  
  
Chapter Two  
  
"So where do we go first?" Shippou asked timidly in the passenger seat, gripping the door handle as Sango swerved around yet another very, very close curb. She wasn't exactly the safest driver, having a lot of experience on getaways and chasings, it all just kind of stuck to her.  
  
"Vroom, vroom!" Sango answered him happily, barely missing a happy couple crossing the street in front of them. "GET YOUR TONGUE OUTTA HER THROAT AND WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" She screamed at the two as the convertible sped away.  
  
"Grrrowl. You are very vicious today, Sango. Road rage, much?" Kagome purred from the back seat, leaning over the middle armrest. Her seat belt wasn't on, and she was filing her nails, glancing at them every once in awhile in the bright sunlight.  
  
"I wanna get there as fast as I can!" Sango protested, her butt halfway off the seat. "My ass if frying from the sun almost melting the leather interior of my car! Kagome has no reaction to temperature." The girl whispered to Shippou, who nodded and grinned nervously. What had he gotten into?  
  
"Where is there?" He tried again.  
  
"The Bar and Grill!" Kagome yelled over the wind, bumping against the side of the car when Sango made yet another ferocious turn. "Rule Numero Uno, kid, always check places of work first! 75% of the time, someone knows something!"  
  
"I thought there weren't any rules!"  
  
"Just three!"  
  
"Oh!"  
  
"What!?"  
  
"I SAID 'OH'!?"  
  
"Oh, ok!"  
  
Shippou shook his head in exasperation and watched as the landscape flashed by him. His face felt like it was about to rip from his skull, and he thought he left his stomach somewhere back on the main highway.  
  
He absently wondered why he had the codename Foxy... at least the girl's kind of resembled their names. Kagome was very graceful, and very beautiful, with sleek black hair and big blue eyes. She was skinny, yet curvy in all of the right places (not that he was looking of anything) and she was so comfortable in any environment, stretching out as if calling every place her own. Sango on the other hand, while also being very pretty, was very hyper active and had a lot of access energy. She seemed like someone that would never give up something she started. She too had long raven-black hair that billowed about as she drove, whapping the seat behind her. Her eyes were a dark brown, almost black, and she was a few inches taller than Kagome, and not so well endowed. Still, they were both quite a catch. Shippou couldn't help a blush creep up on him as he thought about them.  
  
"Hey! I hope that's a excited-to-be-on-the-job flush and not a Miroku blush!" Sango told him with a smile, cocking an eyebrow from under her black shades. Shippou's cheeks deepened as Kagome yelled out,  
  
"What!?" She hadn't heard what Sango had said over the traffic and piercing wind.  
  
"The kid's blushing!!!" Sango yelled back. Kagome draped herself over Shippou's seat and looked at him from upside down.  
  
"Aw..." She pinched his cheek. "So adorable. Miroku was right, you are a fox!"  
  
"I am not!" Shippou protested weakly as Kagome slinked back to her spot. The girl shared a wink with her friend, who grinned back. Poor kid. He was embarrassed!  
  
"Almost there!" Sango cried after a few seconds. Shippou nodded, holding his little file on Rin Matsumoto tight against his body so it wouldn't blow away. Soon enough, they sharply pulled into an almost full parking lot. Sango's red beauty squealed on the asphalt right into an empty parking space, missing the cars on either side by mere inches. Kagome clapped.  
  
"A perfect ten! And the crowd goes wild!" Sango jumped up in her seat with her hands in the air, shaking her arms up and down from her amazing parallel park.  
  
"Beautiful." Kagome agreed through a yawn as she jumped over the side of the car. Sango hopped down and took out the keys. Shippou quickly opened his door and joined the girls.  
  
"Stealth mode." Sango whispered. She instantly straightened, and grabbed a black leather jacket from the back seat. Draping it on, she checked to see if her gun was still tightly secured in it's small hideaway on the inside pocket. Kagome mimicked her, pulling out another leather coat from what seemed like mid air. Donning on a pair of sunglasses, she gave Shippou a quick thumbs up sign.  
  
"Rule numero dos, look menacing, it gets answers quicker." The girl grinned. Shippou nodded warily, wondering if he should write these down...  
  
"I don't think our little fox could look menacing. He's way too cute." Sango laughed, watching as Kagome checked her Silver Shooter for bullets.  
  
"Brand new, just came off the black market. She's a beauty, ain't she?" Kagome sighed as she admired her weapon.  
  
"We won't really need those...will we?" Shippou glanced around ditheringly. The girl's shook their heads.  
  
"Nah... they're just nice to have, just in case." Sango nodded.  
  
"Rule numero tres, always have a weapon on hand when you're a bounty hunter. You make a lot of enemies in this business." Kagome stated, finishing the last of the rules. Or so Shippou thought. Three doesn't equal three to Kagome Higurashi, not when it came to rule making. That was one of the best parts of the job!  
  
Always check places of work first, look menacing, always have your weapon on hand... Oh no, she was just getting started.  
  
"To the castle, my gallant warriors!" Sango turned on her heel towards the Bar and Grill: a small little side bar near the exit for out of towners. Also known as the best place for gangs to hang out at and check out fresh new meat, far, far away from the police head quarters, which was on the other side of town. Kagome stuffed her gun into the inside of her jacket and followed Sango, standing up straight and walking with a confident swagger that would make smart men think twice about jumping her. Shippou scurried after them, extremely self-conscious and wishing that he had a cool leather coat.  
  
The trick to opening gang-infested bars is to either stand aside or dive right into the oncoming smoke from inside. One way you would be lung-free but taken account as a wuss and noted for future beatings, and the other way you would gag, but at least be taken for a local that was good enough to just keep a wary eye on. Kagome and Sango walked right in, breathing normally, while Shippou tried to do the same, but the smoke was so strong, it made his eyes water and he began to cough slightly. Sango patted him on the back roughly, trying to get him to stop while the boys close by chuckled.  
  
Kagome strode straight to the bar and leaned against it. Tapping the table and raising two fingers, a balding man took notice of her and wiped his hands down his apron.  
  
"What can I get ye Missy?" He asked in a gruff voice, watching as Shippou and Sango approached them. "That little 'un ain't gonna drink, ya know. Strict business I run here. Unless you got some sort of ID for him."  
  
Kagome thought back to the orange fox ID Shippou had in his possession, and almost broke out laughing.  
  
"We don't want anything, Myouga..." Kagome lowered her shades and gave a quick wink to the man before her. "...Except a couple answers." Seeing her eyes, the older man grinned.  
  
"Ah... Higurashi. Always a pleasure to help you... I'm thinking the other men here are thinking the same thing as well..." 'Myouga' nodded to the scene behind her. Kagome glanced around and saw a group of burly looking boys playing poker staring lustily after her and Sango, licking their lips. Kagome playfully blew a kiss their way and made a small wave. The biker boys started to raise their eyebrows and grin.  
  
"Ye shouldn't do that, Higurashi. They might take you up on your offer." Myouga captured the girl's attention again. Kagome removed her sunglasses all the way so he could see her roll her eyes.  
  
"Oh please, everyone around here knows about me and InuYasha. I've been here forever, and all the inhabitants I've ever met are snoopy enough to know what I had for breakfast this morning." She exclaimed nonchalantly. Myouga shrugged.  
  
"Whatever. Now what do you girl's want? And make it quick, I've got people to serve." The man said, and then eyed Shippou again, as if seeing him for the first time since he'd walked in. "Who's the squirt?"  
  
"Oh, little fox? He's the new recruit." Sango gave Shippou a little shove, and he stood before Myouga for a good inspection.  
  
"Kinda shrimpy, aint he?"  
  
"Aren't they all in the beginning?"  
  
"Well, I suppose so...What'd you say his name was?"  
  
"I didn't. But it's Shippou." Kagome nodded, grinning at her little trainee. Myouga started to laugh. (Fyi, to anyone that doesn't know... Shippou is Japanese for 'tail'...)  
  
"That isn't his codename is it? I want his real name." The man gurgled. Sango and Kagome exchanged pouty looks.  
  
"No... If you would believe it, we've got even stupider codenames. No offense kid..." Sango looked down at Shippou, who sighed. Myouga had just been kidding, so he was taken aback when he heard the codenames bit.  
  
"Miroku gave you all codenames, did he? What does he think this is, Girl Scouts?"  
  
"That's what I said!" Kagome threw her hands up in the air with emphasis, even though she had said no such thing. "Well, kind of... The meaning's the same though. You won't believe what name he gave me..." The girl fished around in her back pocket and drew out her hot pink business card, turning it around for Myouga to see. He snickered once he read the fine print.  
  
"Kirei Kitty?"  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"What about you Sango? I'm thinking Miroku came up with a great one for you."  
  
"Bunny." Sango grimaced, also pulling out her card. Myouga's smile widened.  
  
"And the kid?"  
  
The orange business card was slapped onto the table, next to the other two.  
  
"Heh heh... Foxy? Isn't that another word for sexy?"  
  
"Yeah, I was thinking more along the lines of 'Little Fox'." Kagome laughed, pocketing her card. Shippou quickly did the same as Sango studied hers for a bit longer.  
  
"But anyways, we need some info on Rin Matsumoto. She works here, right?"  
  
"Yeah, right. That little snot nosed brat." Myouga's smile dropped as he began to refill a different customer's glass. "'Work' isn't exactly the term I would use, though. More like, multitasks with flirting and breaking every dish I own." He grumped. Sango plopped down on a barstool.  
  
"Can I get a bloody mary? And don't go overboard on the tomato juice this time, okay?"  
  
"Sango! We're here to interrogate, not drink bloody mary's!" Kagome protested, stopping Myouga. "We'll hit the sushi bar for drinks later, alright? Not on the job, remember..." The girl turned around to Shippou. "Rule Number one, kid. Never drink on the job unless absolutely necessary."  
  
"But I thought 'Always check places of work, first' was rule number one!" The younger boy frowned, also sitting on a bar stool, but on Kagome's other side.  
  
"Those were in Spanish, these are the English ones." Kagome shrugged him off. It made no sense, but it didn't matter. "Anyways... you were saying." She urged Myouga on.  
  
"She hasn't been to work in a few days, not since around the 15th. Small loss, I say."  
  
"Do you know where she is?"  
  
"Probably at home, sippin' wine and eating her caviar."  
  
"Ew... gross, caviar... Can you give me an address?"  
  
"Yeah.. hang on. I keep all of the employee records in the back." Myouga turned and went through a large metal swinging door. Shippou glanced nervously around the room at all the guy's cracking their knuckles.  
  
"Are we almost done here?" He asked, his eyes not leaving a certain very tall, very big, vicious looking man in all black and a cigar hanging out of his mouth.  
  
"In a minute, Shippou. You know, you should be asking these questions, not me. It is your assignment."  
  
"I'd rather watch you first, to know how it goes."  
  
"Oh...right."  
  
Myouga soon returned with a piece of paper in his hand, and thrust it at Kagome.  
  
"Directions, and the place. Some mansion on the edge of town, where the rich folks frolic. Map and everything included. If I see her, you want me to tell her you're after her butt?"  
  
"Noooo... She might do something stupid and try to skip outta town. No, we want her right here..." Kagome shook her head. Sango grinned. "Alright guys, lets take a road trip to..." She checked the paper in her hand. "...Springtime Villa. Looks like a lovely place to raise the children." Kagome got up and said her goodbyes to Myouga, who waved back. Exiting the building was easy, but Shippou couldn't help wanting to haul ass to the car. Wait, oh no... more of Sango's reckless driving! Did the danger ever end!? Hell no!!!  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Pulling into Springtime Villa was like being Dorothy and entering the Land of Oz. The rest of the town was kind of run down...bleak...depressing, you might say. But this magical place actually had... gasp!... green grass! And big white houses with pink or blue trim, either fountains or little gnomes in the front yard, and always, always, always, a swing set in the back yard. The trees were perfectly placed, the bushes nicely trimmed, and everyone was either outside mowing their already perfect lawns or inside cleaning their already perfect houses.  
  
"What's the address again?" Sango looked behind her to Kagome, causing her to almost run into someone's lawn. An elderly man stuck his fist in the air and was yelling obscenities as they drove away. Kagome looked at the paper in her hand, covering her eyes in the bright sunlight and wondering why she had taken off her sunglasses.  
  
"4 1 2 1 0h." She stated.  
  
"9 0h 2 1 0h!?" Sango yelled back in disbelief, not being able to hear her over the wind. (Fyi: 90210 is an American T.V. show much like the OC. A bunch of rich kids with a bunch of problems running around on the beach... For some reason it was one of the top rating shows of its time... don't ask me. I love this country)  
  
"NO! 4...1...2...1...0h!!!"  
  
"OH!" Sango made a quick (and illegal) u-turn in the middle of the street and sped the other way, towards the 40000's. (There were a LOT of houses. Major housing development going on...)  
  
Shippou watched as the numbers on the houses sped by. 41207... 41208... 41209... 41210!  
  
"There it is!" He cried out, pointing to perhaps the largest house on the block. It had a six-foot tall black metal fence complete with close bars and pointed spikes, and a huge dolphin statue on the premises, spewing water from its mouth. Sango made a sharp turn and squealed to a stop right in front of the gate.  
  
"Button please!" She sung out, checking her lip-gloss in the mirror. Kagome grumbled but leaned over Shippou to push a little white button under a black speaker box. After a few moments...  
  
"Yes?" A crackling voice of a female asked cautiously over the speaker. She sounded frightened. "What is it?"  
  
"Hi Rin! It's me, Higurashi! You remember you're good pal Kagome, right?" Kagome exclaimed in full fake excitement, trying not to gag. Sango snickered. The girl on the other line hesitated.  
  
"How did you know it was me, Higurashi? And what do you want?" Rin asked hurriedly. Kagome frowned. What was her problem?  
  
"I would know your voice anywhere, cupcake. And I just want to see you again! I miss you, girl! Remember all the good times we used to have together?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, I do! We used to be friends, remember?"  
  
"...No. You always hated me after SesshoMaru left you for me."  
  
Kagome growled. That was definitely not what she wanted to hear. But she would play along, if that's what little miss rich girl wanted.  
  
"Oh, Rin, sweetie... I don't hate you. In fact, I've come here to give you my apologizes for ever being a total bitch, which I'm sure I was!"  
  
"Understatement of the year..." Sango muttered under her breath. Kagome shot her the death look and motioned for her to shut up.  
  
"Look, Matsumoto, all I want is to say I'm sorry. I want to make things right."  
  
"Okay, you've said you're sorry. Now leave."  
  
"In person, would be great, thanks!"  
  
"No, I can't let you in here."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I...I have company over..."  
  
A loud crashing noise and cursing was heard in the background, and Rin took in a breath.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tell them that... it's just..." She whispered so quietly, she didn't think Kagome could hear her. Of course, she did. Sango gave her friend a strange look, and they nodded, deciding something.  
  
Jumping out of the car, Kagome took out her hot pink business card and slid it through the lock in the gate. And voila! Instant access. Swinging the gate open, Kagome motioned for Sango to drive up the concrete path. Shippou watched this all in amazement. They were breaking and entering! Could they do that? Kagome saw his look.  
  
"Remember, there are no rules in bounty hunting. Except for the three." She wagged her finger at him. Shippou sighed. A lot of help that was.  
  
"Let's go have a real chat with Miss Matsumoto." Sango smiled, driving up farther once Kagome had slid back into her seat. They reached the huge double doors of Rin's mansion, and turned off the ignition.  
  
"How are you going to convince Rin to come out?" Shippou asked, following the girls up the front steps.  
  
"Easy. Ring her doorbell." Kagome shoved Shippou forward and the two girls dove behind some bushes, waiting in their jackets and sunglasses back in place. Shippou stared dumbly at the door, wondering why he hadn't just applied for a job at the local burger king.  
  
Timidly, the boy pushed his finger down onto the doorbell, and then stumbled back a couple feet, as if expecting someone to jump out at him. The door opened a crack, a chain holding the rest of it closed. It was a girl around Kagome and Sango's age, so it was Rin, he presumed. She had short brown hair, big chocolate eyes, and a few freckles splashed across her nose. And she was almost as short as he was! Rin didn't recognize Shippou, and for some reason that made her face soften and relax.  
  
"Are you here for the pick up?" She asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the younger boy. "You look kind of shrimpy to be a delivery boy."  
  
That was twice today someone had called him shrimpy! Shippou growled and folded his arms across his chest.  
  
"Who you calling Shrimpy?" He snarled. Rin's face twitched into a slight smile.  
  
"Okay. I'm sorry. But you are here for the pick up, right? Because I want this son of a bitch outta my house and as far away from me as possible. I don't even know why I agreed to this..." The girl whispered, and then glanced behind her nervously.  
  
"Uhh..." Shippou took a quick look at the bushes, and saw Kagome nod slightly, her face shadowed by the leaves. "Yeah, yeah." He nodded and turned to Rin. "I'm here for the pick up..."  
  
"Great." Rin sighed in relief, and unchained her door. Opening it wider, she stepped out of the way. "Come on in. He's in the kitchen, inhaling my roast that I was going to make daddy for dinner..."  
  
Once Rin had opened the door and finished her little spill, Kagome and Sango jumped from behind the bushes and tackled her to the ground.  
  
"Boo!" Sango stuck out her tongue, slapping a pair of handcuffs to her wrists, a device that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Rin looked shocked.  
  
"Hiya, Matsumoto! Long time no see. You seemed to have chosen not to appear for your court date, so we're hear to take you on a little trip to the station and sort your shit out there. We're not cops, so I won't go through that whole thing of, 'You have the right to an attorney' and blah, blah, blah... because frankly my dear, we don't give a damn about your rights."  
  
Rin struggled underneath them, but they two girls had her pinned to the rug pretty well...  
  
"You guys are bounty hunters! Wait... I have a bounty!?" Rin cried out in disbelief. Sango rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. You're a very, very, and one more emphasis on the very, small fry. So don't get a big head about it. We're just taking our little fox out for a run. It's his first time." Kagome winked at Rin, who merely gaped at her.  
  
"I always knew you were crazy!" She spat out.  
  
"Crazy is as crazy does, ma'am."  
  
"What the hell is this?" A man's voice exclaimed as someone stepped out of the kitchen, a piece of meat shoved halfway into his mouth. His eyes widened when he saw Rin on the floor, and they grew even more when his eyes came to meet none other then Kagome Higurashi's.  
  
Sango blinked at the man, recognizing him instantly. Who wouldn't? He was the most gorgeous, most well known man in town. SesshoMaru. Shippou stared at him, and looked like he was about to run out the front door. He stayed put when Sango glared at him though.  
  
Kagome looked from Rin, to SesshoMaru, and back again.  
  
"What the fuck is he doing here?" She nodded towards the guy. His hair was cut to his shoulders, and tied up in a quick but masculine ponytail. It was so blonde, it was almost white! SesshoMaru's tan skin glistened under the lights, and his muscles showed through his tight black shirt. Kagome remembered once again just why he was the hunk of the city.  
  
"You don't know yet?" Rin blinked, confused. "SesshoMaru..."  
  
"Shut up, Matsumoto!" SesshoMaru warned before she could say any more.  
  
"Is he the pick up you were talking about?" Shippou asked, becoming curious. Rin glanced at SesshoMaru from her place at the ground, and received the evil eye. Sighing, she turned back to Kagome.  
  
"Yeah, yeah he is."  
  
The older man looked like he was about to claw someone.  
  
"Why would anyone want to pick up a...person?" Shippou looked at SesshoMaru, frowning. "Like a delivery service?"  
  
"Someone... who was trying to get away from something..." Sango glanced at Kagome, who narrowed her eyes at SesshoMaru. "He's trying to run from something. My guess is that it's the law."  
  
"What'd you do, Sessho? Rape a five-year old?" Kagome growled, standing up from Rin and letting Sango handle her. SesshoMaru rolled his eyes at her.  
  
"Oh please, Kagome. There are bigger things here than you and me..." He snapped back. Shippou raised an eyebrow. SesshoMaru had raped Kagome? What?  
  
"I'm surprised you don't know yet..." Rin cried out desperately from the ground. "Let me go and I'll tell you all about it..."  
  
"SHUT UP MATSUMOTO!!!" Kagome and SesshoMaru screamed at the same time, their faces turning different shades of red.  
  
"I'm not telling you anything, Higurashi. You'll be after me soon enough, don't worry."  
  
"You got a bounty?"  
  
"A nice hefty one, too."  
  
"What'd you do?"  
  
"In your line of business, I'm guessing that you'll find out once you reel Rin in for her DUI. Why'd you even come after her? She can't even be worth 300."  
  
"250. And it's Shippou's first assignment, so we decided to give him a little one."  
  
"Ah. That makes sense. So are you gonna chase me down or what?"  
  
"Not yet. I don't have my papers."  
  
"How considerate of you."  
  
"I try. What are you doing here though?"  
  
"Hiding."  
  
"From who?"  
  
"From people like you."  
  
"Hunters?"  
  
"Yeah, and cops. More so the cops, but I'm more afraid of you."  
  
"Is that so?"  
  
"You guys don't obey the rules, remember?"  
  
"Just..."  
  
"The three... I know. How's InuYasha?"  
  
"None of your god damned business. He'll love it when he finds out that his half-brother has a bounty on his head. You know how he is about that kind of stuff."  
  
"Are you guys just gonna stand there and talk about the weather or are we gonna take the mall rat to the station?" Sango grumped, forcing Rin to stand up and walk out the front door towards the convertible.  
  
"You better go." SesshoMaru grinned at Kagome, who sneered.  
  
"I'll be after you soon enough, SesshoMaru. If what you say is true."  
  
"Well then, until next time..."  
  
Kagome flipped the man off and grabbed Shippou by the neck, hauling him down the front steps and putting him in the backseat next to Rin.  
  
"Watch over her. Make sure she doesn't try to jump out of the car or anything." Kagome ordered, taking her place in the passenger spot. Sango cranked up the radio to the classic rock station, and instantly began to belt out 'I Love Rock And Roll' Joan Jett style. SesshoMaru saluted them at the door, and turned around to go back inside.  
  
"This is how you repay me, SesshoMaru!? Once I get back from the station, I'm gonna kick your ass!!!" Rin screamed at him from the back seat. The man simply waved jauntily from the hallway, and they saw him sauntering towards the kitchen again. Sango shut up and glanced at Kagome once they had turned out of Springtime Villa.  
  
"Damn. I'd forgotten just how dead sexy that man is."  
  
Kagome glared at her.  
  
"Shutting up... -UT ANOTHER DIME IN THE JUKE BOX, BABBBBYYYYYYY!!!"  
  
Chapter Four "Who've you got?" Police chief Hachiemon stepped out of the station, patting his bulging middle. Hachiemon was one of Miroku's closet business associates and friend, and he knew the dynamic duo of Kagome and Sango well from their frequent drop offs up at the station.  
  
"Rin Matsumoto." Kagome grumbled, jumping out of the car and tossing Rin's file at Hachiemon, who caught it in mid air.  
  
"A small fry?" The chief frowned, flipping through the folder and then closing it again.  
  
"The smallest of the small fries." Sango muttered, taking the keys out of her convertible and opening up the backdoor.  
  
"You two don't handle the shrimps... what's going on? Got some kind of grudge or something?" Hachiemon peered into the backseat, and grinned at the handcuffed girl that was swearing profusely at Shippou, who looked like he was about to either slap her or run to Kagome.  
  
"Would you just shut up!!!" Shippou yelled at the girl. Rin growled, but closed her mouth, much to his surprise.  
  
"Who's the kid?" Hachiemon nodded at Shippou. Kagome smiled, leaning against a pay phone.  
  
"My friend Shippou-Chan. We like to call him the little fox though..."  
  
"Little fox?"  
  
"Miroku decided to give us all code names." Sango sighed, pulling out her business card. Hachiemon took one look and shook his head in amusement.  
  
"Bunny, huh? What about you, Kagome? I bet it's a good one!"  
  
Kagome mumbled something under her breath.  
  
"What was that?" Sango nudged her in the shoulder, grinning.  
  
"...eri...ity..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"KIREI KITTY, ALRIGHT!" She shouted, throwing her hands in the air and fuming. Hachiemon snickered.  
  
"Oh just shut up, all of you. Today has not been the best day."  
  
"Oh, and why is that... kirei kitty?" The chief asked innocently. Kagome was about to pounce on him when three more cops clambered out of the building, each one obviously having a very different personality from the next. One was a tall woman named Kikyou, who was a little older than Kagome with jet- black hair that reached the small of her back, and piercing black eyes. She was full figured, but also skinny at the same time, and there was a kind of coldness to her that Kagome could only associate to the ice queen herself Kikyou eyed Kagome suspiciously, and frowned. The two had never gotten along; it was instant hatred the first day that had met, when Kagome noticed that something was kind of peculiar around her and InuYasha. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on... but it was there.  
  
The young man next to her was Kagome's high school sweet heart, Houjou. She hadn't seen him lately, and was very surprised to see him in uniform.  
  
"Houjou!" She cried out excitedly, and took her fingers from Hachiemon's neck to embrace the boy. Houjou smiled and laughed, returning the hug.  
  
"Kagome! What are you doing here!? I haven't seen you since the 12th grade!" He asked once they had broken off. Sango waved, and he was distracted for a moment as he waved back, but then his attention was turned back to Kagome.  
  
"I'm in the seek and retrieval service, and I've just brought in Rin Matsumoto because she didn't appear on her court date. What's with the change of clothes?"  
  
"You're a bounty hunter!?" Houjou gasped in amazement, and then his eyes turned to Rin and widened as he recognized her. "Hey yeah... Rin Matsumoto. I remember you. You were the one that..." He glanced at Kagome and quickly coughed and shut up. Kagome sighed. Did everyone know about the love triangle between her, Rin, and SesshoMaru. ...Well duh.  
  
"Houjou's our new recruit! He's a rookie cop as of today!" The other officer, Ayame, a girl that Kagome barely knew, smiled widely as she slapped Houjou on the back. The boy grinned sheepishly, embarrassed. Ayame laughed heartily, her red hair bobbing up in down. She was fellow bounty hunter, Kouga's ex-girlfriend, that Kagome knew still obsessed with him like none other. Thinking of Kouga...  
  
"Ayame, you haven't seen Kouga around, have you?" Kagome fished out Kouga's new business card from her back pocket, grinning. The red head sighed.  
  
"Alas... I believe my loyal Kouga has been trying to escape from my affections..." Ayame exclaimed dramatically, faking a big sigh. Sango snickered.  
  
"So that's a no, right?" Shippou asked all of a sudden, and then blushed furiously when he realized he had said that out loud. "Sorry..." He mumbled.  
  
"Are we going to take the girl in or not?" Kikyou asked harshly, glaring at her fellow uniforms. Ayame stuck out her tongue but followed Kikyou to the back of Sango's convertible to retrieve Rin. Houjou stood there and watched, because he wasn't allowed to handle bounty heads yet. It was his first day on the job.  
  
"So, Hachiemon, any news on a new bounty head... A major bounty head... Like I'm talking big bucks here. Serious crime...?" Kagome questioned innocently as Kikyou and Ayame passed her, dragging a defeated Rin into the station, Houjou trailing along behind.  
  
"No one that I know of. Not yet at least. I did send a couple officers to a shoot out site in Sakura Square... it involved six people. Four men, two women, and happened at around two in the morning. We're not sure if anyone was hurt yet... or killed. That's what we're looking into at the moment. But you've already captured one of the shooters."  
  
"We have?" Sango blinked.  
  
"Yes. Jaken Okinawa was one of them. We've only just found that out today, with a little interrogation on Kikyou's part."  
  
Shippou involuntarily shuddered. He was sort of frightened of the menacing girl that had given Kagome the look over pure loathing. But Kagome hadn't wavered, so neither would he!  
  
"I bet that was fun for Jaken." Kagome growled, glaring through the station walls to where Kikyou resided within, probably reading off Rin's rights in her monotone voice. "But I thought we brought him in for major public disturbance and harassment! You haven't been swindling us, right Hachiemon!? We're the only hunters you know that can catch that little toad, and that's why we get as much money as we do when we bring him in for minor charges, but that doesn't mean that you can downsize his crimes!!!" Kagome protested angrily. Everyone knew that the worse the crime, the bigger the prize you got if you caught the person that did it. Jaken had been a regular, and Kagome and Sango had made a small fortune from bringing him in countless times. But he had a very good lawyer, and their money had been taken away from them more often than once. Bringing in Jaken was now more like a pleasure cruise than a run down. They knew each other so well now, that whenever Kagome and Sango showed up, he would sigh and hold out his wrists.  
  
"No, no, no!" Hachiemon waved his hands in the air, stopping Kagome from attacking him again. "I told you, we just found out about this today. Jaken was 'helping out a friend' and had been at the shooting. But he won't tell us anything else. We're keeping him at the station in case we need any further information about the shooting, but if no one was hurt and killed, his lawyer's got us in such a bind we'll have no choice but to let him go."  
  
"Damn it! Not again! I hate to admit it, but I really hope someone got shot..." Sango cursed, sitting down on the front end of her car with a huff. She was tired of having to give the money back. What sucked about being a bounty hunter in this day of age, was that they had to give all the money they had received from a head if police found out the criminal was innocent of all said crimes. It wasn't very fair, since the hunters had to go through all that work to catch the guy, but it was the law. Of course, this didn't apply when someone other than the police put on the head. Then it was personal, and deals were set up. But usually, Miroku's business tracked down heads for the fuzz, and the station paid them out of their own pockets.  
  
Shippou gave Sango a strange look, but she ignored him. He would find out sooner or later how bounty hunters really went on with their business. There was always a lot of hype and white lies about the job. People considered it to be dangerous and exciting, and that hunters were like detectives searching for fugitives. But that wasn't the case at all. Ninety percent of the job was looking through paper work, investigating, interrogating... the last ten percent was the bit where the hunters finally pinpointed a head's location and went after them. That was the best, and most rewarding part!  
  
"Well, we'll know soon what really went on in Sakura Square... my officers already called me saying that had a witness... Some elderly spitfire named Kaede was there... saw the whole thing out of her apartment window. But it was dark, and she's not so sure about some things... But she did say she saw a beautiful tall man with shoulder length blonde hair fighting with another man with black hair... and she's how we know that there were six of them."  
  
"So one of them was Jaken, obviously... the others..." Kagome pondered, putting her finger to her lips as she thought.  
  
"SesshoMaru! Do you think the friend Jaken was talking about was SesshoMaru?" Sango gasped, looking at Kagome with excited eyes. "Remember what he said... that you would find out why he was hiding at Rin's once you reeled her into the station! This is what he must have been talking about!"  
  
"A beautiful tall man with shoulder length blonde hair... of course!" Kagome replied, clapping her hands together. "SesshoMaru was at the shooting! But he said that he was going to have a nice big bounty on his head... what for?"  
  
"Maybe he killed someone." Shippou piped up, stepping up to Kagome. She nodded.  
  
"Yes... That's the only reason I can think of too. But would SesshoMaru really kill someone? Would he really resort to that?"  
  
Sango gave Kagome a look, her eyebrows raised, and the girl sighed. SesshoMaru was known to be a very violent person with a short fuse, and Kagome had had first tastes of his huge temper years ago... when she was still in high school and had been dating SesshoMaru. She distinctively rubbed a scar in her shoulder, and they all knew what she was thinking...  
  
"Ahem, well..." Hachiemon cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Don't make any assumptions yet... you can't be sure that the man Ms. Kaede was describing is SesshoMaru."  
  
"No, I suppose not..." Kagome mumbled, even though she thought the opposite. Who else could it be? All of it was falling into place nicely. It had to be him. "What's the bounty on someone that kills another in cold blood at a shootout? We've done murders before... but I think this is under different circumstances considering it was an all out rumble."  
  
"A rumble? You really think so?" Shippou asked, his eyes widening.  
  
"Not like a gang rumble, little fox... But yeah. Why else would six people be in a dark square in the middle of the night with guns?" Sango murmured, thinking about the situation.  
  
"I'm thinking anywhere around 500 to 500, 000, depending on how hard and how violent the person is." Hachiemon shrugged. Kagome groaned.  
  
"That's a huge number difference, chief."  
  
"Yes. But I don't think we're dealing with a 500 here, if someone got killed, I mean." Replied Hachiemon with a shake of his head. "A 500 is more like a first timer that had his or her gun go off by accident and is hiding in their mom's basement. A 500, 000 is an experienced assassin that walked right up to whoever, and pulled the trigger. Then ran off to a small corner in Belize and is harder than shit to track down."  
  
"Really?" Shippou gasped.  
  
"More or less."  
  
"What do you think Sango? Should we stick around here and wait for the phone to ring or the troops to come home... or should we split and make sure Hachiemon calls Miroku once he gets any info on the Sakura Square shooting?" Kagome turned to her partner. After a few seconds of thought, Sango answered,  
  
"Let's leave. I want to hit the pet stores before it gets dark and before the station can take my money away again. They can't have it if I spend it!" Sango stuck her tongue out at Hachiemon, who sighed.  
  
"I have a feeling Jaken won't be going anywhere, Sango." He smiled weakly. "This has murder written all over it." Chapter Five "What time is it?" Shippou yawned, halfway to the pet store in the back of Sango's convertible. Sango raised her eyebrows and laughed as Kagome replied,  
  
"It's almost nine... do you want us to take you home?" She looked over her seat, sunglasses still on even though it was pretty dark out already.  
  
"Well... it has been a big day..." Shippou blushed, trying to hide another yawn. "I mean, with my first drop off and all..."  
  
"It's fine. On my first catch, I fell asleep on the way to the station!"  
  
"Course you'd been partying the whole night before..."  
  
"Shut up, bunny!" Kagome stuck her tongue out at her friend, who sneered back. The girl then turned back to Shippou. "Look, don't worry about it. Where do you live?" Kagome patted his knee comfortingly, making him feel a bit better.  
  
"1330 Raion Drive. It's just south of the pet store, so you can keep driving on this road." The younger boy smiled tiredly. Sango nodded and pressed on the gas peddle.  
  
"So what'd you think of your first bounty head, little fox?" Sango called over the blowing wind. "You got $125 in your pocket... you're a rich man, now!" (If I knew the currency for woo long, I would use it. But, I don't. So we're going to use good ol' American moolah in this story.)  
  
"Right..." Shippou snickered. It was a drop in the bucket compared to what SesshoMaru would be worth, and he wanted to go after him! He wanted to be just as good at his job as Kagome and Sango were. "I don't know what I thought of Rin... She wasn't what I expected, that's for sure... are all chases this complicated?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Kagome turned to him again, pulling her sunglasses down on her nose to see him better.  
  
"I mean, that whole thing with SesshoMaru... You knew he was going to have a bounty on his head, he even told you! So why didn't you just nab him right there!"  
  
"Can't take anyone without your papers, kid." Sango answered for Kagome, swerving around yet another dangerous corner.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Rule number two... I think that's what we're on right?" Kagome started, and then looked at Shippou, who nodded meekly after a moment of hesitation. "Right then... Rule number two: If you don't have the file for the head, then you don't have the rights to go and get him or her. For us bounty hunters, a file is like a warrant, I guess."  
  
"Good alliteration." Sango grinned.  
  
"Actually... I think it's a metaphor... But who cares. Without the bounty head's file or 'papers' as we call them, bounty hunters aren't supposed to know or acknowledge bounty heads. But once we see their little candid shot paper clipped to that tan folder, BANG. They are officially heads being hunted by us!" Kagome clapped her hands as emphasis.  
  
"Wow... I guess that makes sense..." Shippou mulled it over in his head, and then frowned. "Wait... when I think about it, none of this makes sense. But when you tell me... it does." He looked at Kagome, who grinned.  
  
"So don't think about it."  
  
Everyone sat back in comfortable silence, enjoying the scenic tour of their run down city as Sango drove recklessly through the darkening streets. Soon, the locals would be out and about, making drug deals, raping women, and shooting one another the usual. It was then Shippou decided to ask the question he had been wondering about all day.  
  
"So... why did you guys end up being bounty hunters? I mean, have you always wanted to do this?" He sat up in his seat and looked at the back of his partner's heads.  
  
"Why do you ask? Do you think we shouldn't be bounty hunters?" Sango cocked her head to the side after a moment, and Shippou wondered if he had said something wrong.  
  
"No! That's not what I mean at all! You guys are awesome at this job! It's like you've been doing it all of your lives!" The boy exclaimed a little too excitedly. Clearing his throat, he tried to redeem himself. "I mean, the way you guys handled today was just... amazing. I can't wait until I'm as good as you."  
  
"Well... Thanks for the compliment." Kagome beamed through the mirror so she didn't have to turn around again. "We don't get many of those... I mean, half of the people in our jail were put in there because of Sango, Kouga, and me... So it's not like when they get out, they walk up to us, shake hands, and tell us about the wonderful time they had in there. It's not the most liked business in the city."  
  
"Don't you get thanks from the cops?"  
  
"Well...no, actually. The fuzz doesn't like us either. We don't obey their rules, and sometimes, we can be just like the criminals we reel in. You caught Hachiemon on a good day... and he's also one of Miroku's closest friends. Houjou is an old friend... we go way back. And Ayame is absolutely in love with Kouga and will use us to get through to him by any means possible... Kikyou is pretty much how the rest of them act towards us."  
  
"Are you serious!? But she was so... so..."  
  
"Yeah, right. There aren't any words to describe it... her coldness." Kagome muttered as Sango looked at her sympathetically. "But she also has a grudge against me... Her and InuYasha..." She broke off.  
  
"Who's InuYasha? Oh wait... that's your boyfriend, right?"  
  
"Yeah. We started out as really good friends, but he wanted to prove something to me, so now we're dating."  
  
"Prove what?"  
  
"You sure are nosy."  
  
"Oh... I'm sorry. It's just... if we're going to work together, I'd like to know more about you... You know, like who you really are."  
  
"It's okay. The subject makes me kind of edgy, though. Sorry. I don't really want to discuss anything that has the names of InuYasha and Kikyou in the same sentence. I might make a decision I'll regret in the future."  
  
"Okay, sure." Shippou leaned back in his seat. He thought for a moment, and then grinned dreamily. "You know, I have a girlfriend too... she was my first love..." He murmured happily. Sango and Kagome exchanged looks that said 'oh that is so adorable'...  
  
"What's her name?" Sango glanced over her shoulder and then glued her eyes to the road once again. "And how old is she?"  
  
"Satsuki..." Shippou breathed, and then added. "Fifteen years old."  
  
"Fifteen! Isn't that a little young!" Kagome raised her eyebrows at Shippou, who shook his head in disagreement.  
  
"No. She's only two and a half years younger than me..."  
  
Sango screeched the breaks to a stop.  
  
"WHOA! Hold up..."  
  
"JUST HOW OLD ARE YOU!?"  
  
"Kagome, just add two and a half to fifteen and you get..."  
  
"YOU"RE ONLY SEVENTEEN AND A HALF!?"  
  
"Kagome, calm down geeze..." Sango rolled her eyes, but then turned to Shippou, her car parked in the middle of the street, holding up the nighttime traffic. "Does Miroku know that you aren't even a certified adult yet?"  
  
"HEY! I am eighteen! Satsuki's the one who's fifteen and half..."  
  
"Oh... well, does Miroku know that you are barely a certified adult."  
  
"Well yeah. He said that as long as I was up to it, anyone can apply for bounty hunter once they turn eighteen."  
  
"Lord... The man gave us the youngest of the young..." Kagome slapped her head. Shippou raised an eyebrow at her, and Kagome sighed. "Alright, alright... I'm sorry... But I thought you were at least 21..."  
  
"Do I look 21 to you?"  
  
"Actually... You look like you're still seven... but we won't go into that." Sango grimaced.  
  
"What's so bad about me being eighteen?"  
  
"Nothing. I just got scared there for a minute when I thought you were only seventeen... Because then Sango or I would have been responsible for you if anything had happened... We don't need that kind of responsibility hanging over us..." Kagome shook her head, and then smiled at the eighteen year old. "Sorry I blew up like that."  
  
"It's okay. But I am a very mature eighteen year old!"  
  
"We see that." Kagome said kindly, still smiling as Sango started up the road again before the people behind her started coming out of their cars with their baseballs bats and hand guns that were usually stashed either in the glove compartment, or in their laps.  
  
"So do you live with your parents?" Sango asked, running a red light. Shippou glanced around for any cops, but didn't see any.  
  
"No. I have my own apartment. I go to SJU too, during the weekdays. So I won't be able to work from ten to one every morning. But I've already discussed that with Miroku."  
  
"I never went to collage..." Sango mused lightheartedly.  
  
"Why do you want to be a bounty hunter? Aren't most kids your age working at the local Jiffy Lube or something?" Kagome questioned.  
  
"You know, I asked you guys first, and you never answered it... Hey, you guys changed the subject on purpose!"  
  
"Yeah, we get pretty good at that after awhile."  
  
"It's like a habit, now." Sango agreed with Kagome's statement. "If there's anything we don't want to answer, then we just take the detour."  
  
"Right. Works miracles."  
  
"So are you guys going to answer me or not?" Shippou asked impatiently, now really wanting to know. Kagome and Sango looked at each other. They did this a lot, making Shippou wonder if they could communicate on another level between one another, leaving him out on a loop.  
  
"Tonight's not the night for stories. Maybe some other day." Sango concluded, breaking her gaze as Kagome stared at the dashboard.  
  
"Or maybe, you'll find out yourself." Kagome smiled lightly.  
  
"Here we are... 1330 Raion Drive. Let's give the momma lion her little fox back." Sango grinned at her joke while pulling up to the curb in front of what looked like a huge dorm for students. (Raion is lion in Japanese...) Shippou couldn't help smile as he jumped out of the red convertible and pulled his keys from his pocket. The building looming before them was a huge white complex with too many stories to see. It wasn't in the greatest condition, many of the windowpanes were hanging loose, and the paint was chipping off in big clumps, exposing the plaster underneath. But to Shippou and the many other collage mates that lived there (since the place was practically next door to campus), it was home.  
  
"What floor are you on?" Sango leaned over her door, cutting off the ignition so they could say their goodbyes.  
  
"Practically in the basement. I took the cheapest room I could get, and it definitely looks the cheapest too... Souten and I share the place, and we split the rent." Shippou answered, twirling his keys around his finger and yawning.  
  
"Souten?" Kagome grinned. Another girl? He was a fox!  
  
"Yeah. She's been my best friend since we were kids." Shippou smiled back.  
  
"And what does Satsuki think of this? You living with another girl?"  
  
"Satsuki? She doesn't care at all! She knows Souten and me are just friends. We would never do anything like... that. And I would never do that to Satsuki."  
  
"Oh, I see."  
  
"Well, I should be going now... Souten's painting our room, to make it look better, and I need to help her. I'll see you tomorrow around 1:30!" Shippou waved and jogged to the building, opening the door, and then disappearing inside. Kagome and Sango looked after him.  
  
"So they kid has a girlfriend, and lives with his best friend..."  
  
"Who's a girl."  
  
"Right... and then he works with two girls all day long after that!"  
  
"What a little fox!"  
  
"Well, he is a cutie, I'll give him that."  
  
"I bet you the girls just swarm over him in there."  
  
"Yeah... Let's go."  
  
"Okay." Chapter Six  
  
"I want that one." Sango pointed at a little kitten that was staring straight at her through the glass, pawing the barrier as if she wanted to get out.  
  
"That one?" The guy behind the counter asked nervously, glancing at the white and black kitten with reddish eyes. "She's kind of vicious..."  
  
"THAT beauty is vicious? I don't think so... Just look how adorable she is!" Sango squealed when the cat rubbed up against the glass, her tail twitching back and forth.  
  
"It may look cute now, but that cat is a smart one. Sometimes, I swear she knows what I'm saying about her... So I'd be careful of what I say from now on..." The acne-infested teenager trembled, stepping away from the glass compartment the little kitty was kept in.  
  
"All cats are smart." Kagome protested, folding her arms across her chest. "Especially Buyo."  
  
"Well, now Buyo will have another kitty to have an intelligent conversation with, won't he?" Then Sango gasped. "What if they have kittens together!?"  
  
"Nope. Can't happen. Buyo's been neutered."  
  
"How evil!"  
  
"I didn't do it! Jii-Chan had it done when he first bought him for me!"  
  
Sango sighed. "Poor Buyo..."  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"But Kirara will help him feel better! It's not like they can't have a romp or two on the carpet... Kirara just won't have babies."  
  
"Sango! Geeze..."  
  
"Who's Kirara?" The young man asked, trying to follow the girl's conversation as well as he could.  
  
"That's Kirara." Sango pointed at the kitten behind the glass. "Now if you would be so kind as to take her out of there, I will pay you in cold hard cash and be on my way." She said snootily, examining her nails. The guy sighed, and slowly opened the glass door, shaking slightly. Once it was all the way open, he jumped back, covering his head with his arms. The little kitten mewed and jumped into Sango's awaiting hands.  
  
"Aw... How adorable!" Kagome chuckled, scratching the cat under its neck.  
  
"I-I don't understand... Just this morning this cat tried to maul me!" The boy shook his head in confusion.  
  
"Maybe she doesn't like you." Sango grinned, petting her new cat Kirara, then fishing for some money in her purse and slapping it down on the counter. Kagome picked out a red collar to compliment the cat's strange eyes, and they attached it around her neck along with a set of brand new tags.  
  
"Time to go home, Kirara." Sango smiled, turning around to exit the store. The boy behind them grumbled, thoroughly perplexed.  
  
"Stupid cat." He muttered. Suddenly, a deep growling noise started from Kirara, and she tried to leap out of Sango's arms to get her claws into the guy.  
  
"NO, KIRARA!!" Sango protested, holding onto her new cat. Kagome pointed an accusing finger not at Kirara, but at the boy.  
  
"That's what you get for calling her names. Cats are very intelligent creatures, they know when they've been dissed by the tone of your voice." She exclaimed, frowning. The boy nodded and looked like he wanted to hide behind the counter.  
  
"Let's go. We have to introduce Kirara to Buyo before it gets too late..." Sango pushed open the revolving door of Pet City, For Every Dog, Bird, And Kitty, and walked out to her convertible. Kagome trailed behind her, visibly tired.  
  
"Wow, I didn't think I'd be so exhausted at the end of regular day like this..." She yawned, and looked down at her hello kitty watch. It was only ten thirty!  
  
"Well, a lot did happen today." Sango added, putting Kirara in her lap as she started up the car. "What with SesshoMaru and all... and seeing Houjou again, and getting Rin to the station... Not to mention that little spitfire we had to train all day. He's going to be a handful until he gets this job down."  
  
"Yeah. Hey, maybe we should swing by the office and see if Hachiemon has called Miroku yet." Kagome said suddenly.  
  
"We just talked to Hachiemon an hour and a half ago!"  
  
"I know... But his boys should be done with their investigation by now, so maybe something turned up." Kagome shrugged. Sango sighed, but made a right turn instead of a left, taking the road to the office.  
  
"You don't think InuYasha would know anything about SesshoMaru, do you?" She suddenly asked, glancing at Kagome. The girl almost burst out laughing.  
  
"Are you kidding? You know how those two are! It's amazing they even acknowledge that the other exists!"  
  
"How come you always get the sexy guys?" Sango huffed, waiting impatiently for am older man to make his way across the street. "Houjou, SesshoMaru, InuYasha... all very, very fine looking boys."  
  
"Yeah, well what about you? Takeda and Miroku sure aren't bad looking. So what if Takeda was a little obsessive, and Miroku is kind of..."  
  
"The guy's a pervert... Is that the word you were looking for?"  
  
"No! Miroku isn't... Oh, who am I kidding. Oh well, he's a guy isn't he? And he obviously has a thing for you."  
  
"A thing for my breasts, you mean." Sango muttered, stepping on the gas pedal and roaring into the office parking lot.  
  
"He's in his office, talking on the phone with Chief Hachiemon..." Koharu pointed from her position at the front desk once the girls had stepped into the building. Kagome nodded and dragged Sango into Miroku's office, shutting the door quietly after herself. Miroku saw them and made a slight wave, holding his finger up indicating that he would only be on the phone for a few more seconds.  
  
"...Right... Yes, I have that information with me right here... No, the girls just walked in... Yeah, uh huh... Yeah I think so too... Don't worry, we'll get him... Yes, I realize that... Yes, I will send my girls over as soon as possible... Uh huh... Kouga too, of course... Tell Ayame to stop shouting, I can hear her from here... Yes, of course... No... Alright, sure... I will... Okay, thanks for the tip, man... Yeah... Bye." Miroku put the phone on the hook and sighed, leaning back in his chair.  
  
"Hey... I like the cat." Miroku stated once he saw Kirara, who was purring in Sango's arms. Kagome swore Sango blushed as she set Kirara down to roam the office. "So, I heard you had a little weirdness go on up in Springtime Villa." Miroku prompted, his eyes on Kagome.  
  
"Weirdness doesn't describe it... We think Rin may have been letting SesshoMaru stay at her place until one of his friends could come and pick him up so they could escape to wherever. She was really jumpy about him being there... So, what'd the chief say?"  
  
"Well, they found a body." Miroku slumped over his desk, putting his chin in his hands. "A female. Thrown into a garbage bin not too far away from the shooting. I'm assuming Hachiemon told you about the square?"  
  
"Yeah. We rolled Rin in just after they interrogated Jaken about it. Apparently he'd been present when the shooting had taken place."  
  
"Yes. Jaken was there, as well as the dead girl we identified as Kagura Watanabe. At least, that was her maiden name. We haven't found out her current name yet. She was twenty-five, and was the sister of two other siblings, who were also present: Kanna Watanabe: who is only fourteen, and Naraku Watanabe: twenty-eight. All of this information Kikyou got out of Jaken just minutes ago, once he was informed that Kagura had been killed."  
  
"How was she murdered? Gun shot wound?" Sango guessed, assuming so since it was a shoot out they were dealing with.  
  
"You would think so, but no, actually." Miroku shook his head. Sango frowned. "She was stabbed multiple times in the abdomen. Then she was apparently decapitated."  
  
"Ew..." Kagome grimaced. Decapitation was definitely a gross and bloody way to bite it, that was for sure.  
  
"That's what I was thinking. For some reason, once Kikyou told Jaken that Kagura was dead, he freaked out, and began telling us all these names of the people at the shooting." Their boss murmured, mulling over the situation.  
  
"Jaken, Kanna, Kagura, and Naraku Watanabe, and... SesshoMaru. He was there, wasn't he?" Kagome whispered, thinking back to the man she had seen just hours before, roast hanging out of his mouth and eyes wide when he had seen that Rin had been tackled and handcuffed by his former love... a girl who now hated him for several very good reasons.  
  
"Yeah... and surprise, surprise, his finger prints are all over the murder weapon. It's an old century sword, and we think it came from the owner of the Steel Shop on the corner of 5th and Lincoln, but someone is going to have to check into that..." Miroku grimaced. Sango gasped.  
  
"So SesshoMaru DID kill someone... wow. That guy is in some serious shit now..." She shook her head.  
  
"I...I never thought he would..." Kagome's fingers unconsciously rubbed the scar on her shoulder, and she winced just thinking about SesshoMaru killing another person.  
  
"We always knew he was capable of it, Kagome..." Sango patted her back comfortingly. "I mean, after he shot you... And you almost didn't make it."  
  
"That was an accident!" Kagome protested angrily. Wait... why was she defending him!?  
  
"Or so he said." Sango retorted, crossing the room and putting her hands on her hips. "I don't want to argue about this with you again, Kagome. Let's just focus on the present."  
  
"Lets." Kagome growled, still bitter. "What else have you figured out?" She turned to Miroku. "Who was the other person?"  
  
"We think it was Toutousai, an old friend of SesshoMaru. And I mean old when I say old... this guy's around his mid sixties."  
  
"An old timer was in a shoot out, as well as a teenager?" Sango blinked.  
  
"What is this world coming to?" Kagome groaned. "So, what, is there a bounty out already for SesshoMaru?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"How much?"  
  
"One..."  
  
"...ONE!? ONE WHAT!? ONE HUNDRED!? ONE THOUSAND!? THAT'S IT!?"  
  
"Well... add a couple zeros..."  
  
"Like how many?"  
  
"Like...six."  
  
"HOLY SHIT!" Kagome jumped out of her seat, grinning like none other.  
  
"1,000,000!? That's twice the amount we thought!" Sango squealed, happy again. "But wait... why so much? The fuzz would never pay that much for us to go and get the bastard."  
  
"It's not just the cops that put out the bounty!" Miroku exclaimed excitedly. "Kagura's husband added on another 500,000! The pigs want 500,000, and Kagura's husband, Onigumo wants 500,000!"  
  
"YES! We'll be rollin' in the dough once we get that son of a bitch in!" Kagome clapped her hands together in glee. "This is so great!"  
  
"Oh god... One million dollars... This isn't just great, it's insane..." Sango breathed, sitting in a chair so she didn't fall over. Miroku stared at her dreamily, forgetting his surroundings. Kagome was seeing a little ditty that was somewhere along the lines of 'Big money, big revenge, big money, big revenge...la, la, la!'  
  
"And it's not like we don't have any leads... I mean, we just saw the guy today!" Kagome stopped her song as she tried to calm down. They weren't exactly acting like professional bounty hunters, here. But hey, how many times does a hunter get the opportunity to get after a head worth one million! The answer: NOT OFTEN ENOUGH!!! Chapter Seven "Holy crap...I am SO exhausted." Sango sighed as she opened the door to the two girl's apartment. Throwing her keys on the kitchen counter, she watched warily as Kirara jumped from her arms to sniff around the small but nicely decorated living room. Kagome dragged herself in seconds later.  
  
"Exhausted!? Exhausted is like, climbing a mountain tired. This... This is like, just got ran over by three buses and a train tired." Kagome grumbled, stumbling over to the plush blue couch, and then falling into it. "I think I'm dying..." She exclaimed, her face mashed into the cushions.  
  
"No one is going to die yet, not until we get that million..." Sango's eyes sparkled with dollar signs as she gazed at something Kagome couldn't see across the room (Which was Sango in a Porsche with her nails and hair done, and beautiful men in the back seat surrounded by bubbles and champagne...).  
  
"So what's on our to-do list?" Sango snapped out of her dreamland as Kagome sat up groggily, switching on the tube with a small remote she had to fish for under the pillows. Sango was into pillows. "Who do we see first?"  
  
"Well, let's see... I suppose we could go see the elderly woman who witnessed the crime...or at least, thinks she did anyway..." Kagome flipped down a channel.  
  
"Yeesh... Old people..."  
  
"My thoughts exactly. Or we could re-interrogate Jaken, but I think Kikyou got everything out of him that could be taken out... Her cold glare alone makes me shiver..."  
  
"I second that."  
  
"Or... we could go find that other guy... Toutousai... was that his name?"  
  
"But he's an old goat too!"  
  
"Well, sorry Sango, but you can't be too picky about this. There just aren't that many people to interview at this point. Well, besides Naraku and Kanna Watanbe, but I hear they're real jerks. Like the rich snobbish kind of jerks, too."  
  
"Great...more Rins." Sango sighed, giving up and slouching over next to Kagome. "Well fine then. I suppose Kaede and Toutousai ARE our only choices at the moment, if we don't want to get snubbed that is."  
  
"Yes. So I say we go see this Kaede woman first, then we find Toutousai, and see what he has to say about this."  
  
"Wait... how are we going to find him if the cops can't?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, aren't pigs looking for the goat?"  
  
"Ha, ha... do you realize what you just said?... Never mind. No, I don't think they're looking for him just yet. They don't know if he has anything to do with the shooting at all."  
  
"But wouldn't they want to interview him or something, see if he witnessed the murder?"  
  
"Oh yeah... well, guess we'll either interrogate him after the fuzz reaches him, or we find him first."  
  
"Whatever. Sounds good to me." Sango shrugged, and then yawned widely. "So tomorrow we hit the retirement homes."  
  
"Guess so... Only Kaede lives in an apartment across the street from Sakura Square, so it's not exactly a retirement home."  
  
"Whatever. I'm too tired to make sense of anything."  
  
"Ditto. Let's hit the sack." Kagome stood up and stretched, turning the television back off. Why had she even turned it on in the first place? God, she WAS really tired...  
  
"Wait, what about Kirara and Buyo?" Sango stopped Kagome with a hand on her shoulder. Kagome rolled her eyes.  
  
"We'll introduce them tomorrow morning, first thing. I promise." She swore as she began unbuttoning her sheer blouse to change into her pj's.  
  
====  
  
mEw  
  
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"I don't see why we have to go all this way just to interview some old hag that the chief's boys already talked to about the same damn thing." Sango grumped in the passenger seat. This time Kagome was driving. Thank God too because the people were really starting to get scared whenever a shiny red object turned around the corner. Kagome was driving because Sango was far too upset to steer even remotely well... Things hadn't gone over so well between Kirara and Buyo, and Sango was thoroughly pissed.  
  
"The fuzz always misses something, you remember that, Sango." Kagome glanced at her friend, who had her arms crossed across her chest and her knees drawn up to her chin (pretty much defeating the purpose and usage of seat belts). She was glaring at everything they passed, whether it be a person, a dog, or a rock on the road, it received the evil Sango eye. "Look, girl..." Kagome patted her knee in reassurance. "I'm sure Buyo just said something in kitty talk that upset Kirara... that's why she tried to tear him into pieces. You know, really I'm the one who should be mad, Buyo IS my cat."  
  
"I know..." Sango sighed, trying to smile at Kagome. "It's just, I wanted this to work out between the two... I wanted them to be best friends, even if they couldn't make little kittens together because Buyo's equipment doesn't quite work..."  
  
"Sango! I told you, I can't reverse the effects of be neutered! If I had known Jii-Chan was going to put Buyo under the knife, I would have stopped him!" Kagome rolled her eyes, turning back to the road.  
  
"HEY! I didn't say anything!" Sango protested with a grin, raising her hands defensively.  
  
"Yeah, well... You were thinking it." Kagome grumped. The mood had been passed along. Suddenly, she squinted into the sunlight, trying to figure out what was waving its arms about in front of her car.  
  
"Hey Sango... is that a person?" Kagome pointed, putting her sunglasses on so she could see through the bright light of early afternoon. Sango looked to where Kagome's index finger was, her eyes forming little slits.  
  
"I don't know... But what else could it be?" She shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, true. I think its..."  
  
"...op!" The figure screamed out at the two, frantically waving its arms.  
  
"What did it say?" Sango frowned, leaning over the side of the car to get a better look.  
  
"I don't know... The wind is blowing too hard." Kagome blinked. "Hey, isn't that..."  
  
"It's Houjou!" Sango smiled, waving at the boy as the came up to him, driving full speed ahead.  
  
"Stop! I have something you might want to know!" Houjou cried out, putting his arms down then jumping out of the way, barely escaping being run over by Kagome.  
  
"Oops... Sorry!" Kagome giggled. "This is my first time driving this car... Not used to the breaks yet."  
  
Houjou sighed, looking like he was about to melt in his navy blue police uniform. He was standing in the street in front of the station, grinning.  
  
"So what's so important that you had to flag us down for?" Kagome turned off the ignition and leaned over Sango, gazing up into Houjou's orbs. Hey, she was a girl, it was what she did. Besides, the guy was a total hottie. Sango rolled her eyes, the third person to do so in less then three minutes, and sat back, letting Kagome have control of the situation.  
  
"We found Toutousai already. We looked up his name in the records and found out that he's been at the station before." Houjou put his hand on the frame of the door and leaned into the car a bit more, his other hand looking important on his hip.  
  
"What for? He an old cop?" Kagome frowned, taking a wild guess.  
  
"Nope. Seems as if Toutousai's a major pothead. Gets dragged in here every other few months for illegal possession of what not... He just now recently got out of jail for the billionth time. Guess he wanted to make a little more trouble by taking part in the Sakura Square shooting."  
  
"Whoa... But the chief said this guy was in his mid sixties!"  
  
"Yeah well, guess old habits die hard."  
  
"I'll say."  
  
"But on a happier note... how are you and InuYasha?" Houjou smiled in a friendly way, genuinely interested. Sango glanced behind her, hoping that no cars were coming since they were parked in the middle of a one-way street.  
  
"Good... I guess. I wouldn't know, actually... He's been gone on that damned business trip for... well, for forever it seems like. I haven't seen him in weeks, haven't talked to him for a grand total of three days... I don't even know if he cares anymore." Kagome sighed, revealing something that had been bothering her for a while now. Houjou looked mad.  
  
"That's InuYasha alright. That jerk. First Kikyou and now this?...Sorry..." The boy coughed, realizing what he was saying.  
  
"It's okay... He IS a jerk." Kagome waved her hand in the air, indicating it was no big deal. "So... Where does this Toutousai dude live?" Best to change the subject...  
  
"1434 Longhorn Avenue. It's not that far away... are you girls on your way to Kaede's?"  
  
"Yeah... But we'll stop at Toutousai's first if it's closer."  
  
"Only about four blocks from here."  
  
"Toutousai it is, then."  
  
Kagome waved goodbye (as did Sango) and stepped on the gas pedal.  
  
====  
  
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Toutousai's house (if you would call it that) was a run down old shack in the middle of a street housing a clan of more run down old shacks. The paint was chipping off, the shutters were hanging on for dear life, there wasn't a front door (just a bed sheet), and the front yard looked like a jungle.  
  
"Well... at least we know all that money this guy makes off of drug deals doesn't go into house care." Sango sighed as Kagome parked her convertible in the slab of concrete that must have been a driveway at one point. "I wonder what it DOES go to..."  
  
"Probably more drugs." Kagome shrugged, having absolutely no idea whatsoever. "Let's go."  
  
"Bring our babies?"  
  
"Duh." Kagome tucker her silver shooter into her belt, not wanting to don the heavy leather jackets in this heat. By the looks of it, Toutousai didn't have air-conditioner anyways. Sango quickly imitated her, and the started up the walk.  
  
"So... Should we knock...or just... yell?" Sango glanced at her friend and partner, and then turned her eyes back to the tie-dye bed sheet before them, taking place of the door.  
  
"Well..." Kagome peered at the sheet, then moved it aside so she could see what was going on inside the shack. "Anyone home?" She called out.  
  
There was a pause of silence, then some crashing around, and a nervous old man voice called,  
  
"Just a minute!"  
  
The girls waited patiently outside for Toutousai to hide his stash and gather his bearings.  
  
"Well, well. And what do we have here? You babes are those two hunters that everyone's been pissing their pants about, right?" The guy's eyes were huge, and very, very glazed over. He was stoned off his ass.  
  
"Oh great." Sango muttered, smelling the tangy scent of pot wafting out into the front yard. Inhaling the second hand smoke was already making her dizzy (Sango has low tolerance for smoke, high tolerance for liquor. In other words, she can party and drink all night, but roll up a joint around her and she's got an instant high).  
  
"We're bounty hunters all right. But we're not here to take you away, so don't worry." Kagome assured him, speaking slowly to make sure he got everything. He was stoned and old, there was no telling if he even really saw them.  
  
"Oh, I know. I'm not a head at the moment." Toutousai grinned a yellow- toothed smile. "Why don't you girls come in? I believe you wanted to talk to me..." The old man drew back the bed sheet and ushered the hesitant ladies inside. It was like entering a different world... everything was so much stranger than the bright street on the other side of the curtain. Toutousai had lava lamps absolutely everywhere, perching on top of anything with a flat surface. He had strings of beads for doors, and the place was void of any couches or chairs, just four small cushions on the floor, surrounding a low table. A miniscule TV set sat in the corner of the room, broken. There were two other doorways, one obviously leading to a bedroom and another to the kitchen and bathroom. Before they had time to investigate a little more, Toutousai sat them down on the poufs and instantly lit up a long pipe with who knows what inside of it. Sango was beginning to get dizzy...  
  
"So..." The old man blew out a puff of smoke right into the girls' faces. "Ask away. I will answer everything I can, truthfully."  
  
"Well, that's good to know." Sango grinned and swung her head over to Kagome, who gave her a strange look.  
  
"Sango, are you sure you don't want to wait outside? I can handle this by myself if I need to..."  
  
"No, no, no... I'm fine, really. Go on, the man told you to ask away." The girl giggled, slurring her words slightly.  
  
"Okay... Mr. Toutousai, we have reason to believe that you were at the very recent shooting of Sakura Square, is that correct?" What was with all the lava lamps? They were so weird, yet strangely beautiful, and captivating as well...  
  
"That is so." Another wave of smoke clouded over Kagome's face, entering through her nose and open mouth.  
  
"Ah...okay. Good. Well um... Is it true that the following people were present as well? Naraku, Kanna, and Kagura Watanbe, and Jaken something-or-other, as well as SesshoMaru?"  
  
"Yes. And that is it." Puff...inhale... the bright colors from the lava lamps intrigued Kagome...  
  
"Why... were you all there in the first place?"  
  
Puff... inhale... wow, had she ever felt so lightheaded? Sango had her head on Kagome's shoulder, tracing small circles into the rug that was somehow fascinating to her.  
  
"How about I ask some questions about you, Kagome Higurashi...Some things that I have always been curious about."  
  
"...Me?"  
  
"Yes. When did you first meet SesshoMaru?" Puff...inhale...  
  
Go on, Kagome. Answer the nice man. Like he said, he's just curious. Maybe he wants a question for a question, that type of thing...  
  
"...Well, we lived next door to each other for as long as I can remember... We- we were best friends when I was five..."  
  
"Five, eh? And what happened when you and him were best friends when you were five?" Puff...inhale...  
  
Kagome laughed loudly and rolled her eyes.  
  
"You won't believe it, but I...ha, ha... I lost my virginity to him at that age!" She collapsed into fits of giggles, Sango also laughing beside her.  
  
"Did you? And how did that happen?"  
  
"Well... I was five, and he was six... and uh... I don't...really know how it happened. 'Cept, he was one perverted little boy, if you know what I mean... and uh... we were playing hide and go seek and well... he wanted to play a different version of it..." Kagome gurgled out. Sango snorted.  
  
"Nasty!" Her friend cried out in delight, poking Kagome accusingly.  
  
"Hey! Ha, ha... I didn't know what was going on!"  
  
Puff...inhale...  
  
"And when you two got older... what went on then?"  
  
"Well...uh... after I realized what SesshoMaru had done, I kinda... didn't want anything to do with... him, ya know. So we uh... we didn't talk after that. 'Cept one day in high school..."  
  
Puff...inhale...  
  
"What happened in high school?"  
  
"Heh, heh, we started to erm... date, I guess. More like, have sex frequently."  
  
"Very frequently!" Sango held up her hand to stop Kagome, and then slapped it back down on the carpet.  
  
Puff...inhale...  
  
"Then what?"  
  
"Could you please like... put that away?"  
  
Puff...inhale...  
  
"No, it calms me down."  
  
"Well uh... I think I'm getting a kind of... erm... what do you call it... uh... buzz. Yeah, I'm getting a buzz off of the smoke you're blowing at me."  
  
"You too!?" Sango gasped, hugging Kagome.  
  
"I think we should go..." Kagome tried to stand up, but failed and slumped back to the ground. "Or," She giggled. "Maybe not..."  
  
"And then he shot you, didn't he?" Puff...inhale...  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"SesshoMaru... He shot you. Why did he do that? And how come you never pressed charges against him?"  
  
"Yeah, that... Well uh, he thought I was messing around with Inu... uh... God, what's his name again?"  
  
"Inu...Yasha!" Sango helped out.  
  
Puff...inhale...  
  
"Yeah. But I wasn't! Only, he didn't believe me... I kept telling him 'No, no, I swear I'm not...' but he just wouldn't believe me..."  
  
"That ass hole!" Kagome's friend cried, bring her fist into the air.  
  
"I know! So anyways, we got... into this uh... this big ol' fight. And uh... he had a gun... and then something went wrong... and he accidentally shot me... I think. I don't know... Wow, the room is like, spinning WAY outta control!" She laughed.  
  
"That is very interesting, Kagome Higurashi... Now how about you guys go back home and have a lie down? Only, I would walk. Don't take that nice car of yours..." Toutousai helped girls up, and walked them to the 'door'. "Bye bye now, have a nice day!" Puff...inhale...  
  
"Yeah uh... Bye!" Kagome waved, stumbling down the steps. Whoa, it was so bright out...  
  
"Peace home slice!" Sango called out, falling into Kagome. "He was a nice old goat..." She whispered loudly as Toutousai's curtain swung shut.  
  
"Yeah... so. What happened? Did we interro....intreo... uh... what?"  
  
"Wow... Kagome, I think we're... I think he... I mean we're totally..."  
  
"Baked!" Kagome burst into giggles. Sango nodded, trying to swallow hers, but the quickly erupted as well.  
  
"We need to like... you know... we were only in there for a couple uh... for a couple of minutes."  
  
Kagome looked down at her hello kitty watch.  
  
"No WAY!... Dude, we were in there for like... two hours!"  
  
"Huh uh!" Sango protested, grabbing her friend's arm and squinting down at the watch. Sure enough, it was now noon, instead of ten. "Whoa... weird..."  
  
"Yeah...I liked his lava lamps... Let's go to the office and uh... see Miroku."  
  
"Okay! You know, I've always thought that man is uh... really sexy!"  
  
"Ew! He's such a... such a... such a... Uh... Let's go."  
  
"I want a sundae." Chapter Eight "Feeling better yet, girls?" Miroku leaned down to peer into Sango and Kagome's faces. Their eyes were STILL a bit glazed over, but other than that, they were almost back to normal. Almost...  
  
"I...I'm really hungry." Kagome exclaimed, like she was surprised at how hungry she actually was.  
  
"Someone's got the munchies..." Miroku sighed, and then glanced at Sango, who was trying to eat his desk. "Geeze... okay all... let's go hit the sushi bar, and then talk about what you found out at Toutousai's."  
  
"I can already tell you now, we didn't find out much at all... except for the fact that lava lamps look AMAZING when you're stoned." Kagome grinned. Sango nodded in agreement.  
  
"Maybe he'll sell some to me..." She mused suddenly, her finger to her lip and apparently not realizing she had just said this out loud.  
  
"Sell what, exactly?" Miroku laughed as Sango's eyes widened.  
  
"Uh...lava lamps!" She recovered. Her friend giggled.  
  
"To the sushi bar!!!" Kagome jerked out of her seat and walked out of Miroku's office, straight to Koharu. "Wanna come?" She asked gleefully, the pot still affecting her a bit.  
  
"Uh...sure." Koharu tried a little smile, perplexed as to why Kagome and Sango had stumbled into work and into Miroku's office and stayed in there for an hour. "Did you find anything out at Toutousai's?"  
  
"Huh uh." Kagome shook her head violently, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "MIROKUUUU, SANGOOO!!! LET'S GOOOO!!! Koharu is coming with us!"  
  
Sango came bursting out of Miroku's office, giggling strangely and swatting at Miroku.  
  
"Oh, Miroku. You're such a letch!" She cried, leaning on his shoulder for support. She was way more stoned then Kagome, being more susceptible to such things. Miroku looked positively radiant with Sango clinging to him like that.  
  
Suddenly, Kagome's cell phone rang. The tone was Bandages, by the band Hot Hot Heat. It made her laugh, and Sango instantly started singing the song.  
  
"BANDAGES, BANDAGES, BANDAGESSSSS!!! ON MY KNEES ON MY ARMS ON MY...my..." She burst into giggles, forgetting how the song went. Kagome rolled her eyes and pulled the device from her back pocket.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey babe!"  
  
"InuYasha!" She cried, instantly recognizing her boyfriend's voice. "Where are you!?"  
  
"Was that Sango singing...? Oh, never mind. Look out the window!"  
  
Kagome grinned and pushed down the blinds of the front window with a manicured fingernail. She squealed in happiness and surprise when she saw InuYasha in the parking lot, waving his arms in the air right next to a shiny new Corvette.  
  
"Oh my god!" Kagome tossed her cell phone to Sango and raced out of the building, then jumped into InuYasha's arms as he covered her with his sweet kisses. Sango was giggling inside, talking in the phone until Miroku pulled it away from her.  
  
"Did ya miss me?" InuYasha whispered in her ear once he set her down. Kagome grinned up at him.  
  
"It depends... Did you miss me?" She whispered seductively back. "Oh wait... before we get too distracted... there's uh... there's something you should know..." Kagome backed away from him, but he still held onto her hands.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"It's about your brother, SesshoMaru." Miroku stepped out of the hunter headquarters, locking it behind Koharu and Sango. "He's killed someone. Isn't that right, Kagome?"  
  
"Well... Actually, I was gonna tell him that I'm stoned... but yeah, he should know about SesshoMaru too."  
  
"What!?"  
  
"I didn't mean to get baked! It just sorta happened..."  
  
"No, that's not what I... SesshoMaru killed someone?" InuYasha looked to Miroku in astonishment. The man nodded. "THAT BASTARD! I knew it! I knew this kind of thing would happen... Who'd he kill!? And how?"  
  
"Well then, since no one is paying attention to ME..." Kagome walked off, grabbed Sango's wrist and they went to check out InuYasha's new car. Koharu stood meekly behind Miroku, not sure what to do or who to follow.  
  
"The girl's name was Kagura Watanbe. She was stabbed multiple times, and then decapitated." Miroku answered InuYasha's former question, shaking his head at the two giggling girls by the new Corvette. "He was also at a shoot out in Sakura Square with five other people. And..."  
  
"God Miroku would you shut it!? That doesn't matter right now... We are officially on a break of SesshoMaru. I seriously don't want to hear anything else about him! Spilling my guts out to his fucking old fogee friend was bad enough! He probably told Toutousai to ask me all those questions and get me high just to humiliate me! The effing bastard!" Kagome raged, hopping into the front seat of Sango's convertible. "Me and Sango are going to the sushi bar, 'cause we are freaking starving. If you want to come with us, hop into that tiny wimp of a car InuYasha just bought and follow me!" The two girls revved off into the night, turning on the radio once they pulled out of the parking lot and blasting it out of the speakers. InuYasha stared after them.  
  
"What the hell was that all about?"  
  
====  
  
mEw  
  
(.)  
  
MeW  
  
====  
  
"Um... two dinner orders of California rolls please." Kagome exclaimed after the bar tender asked what they wanted. He nodded, and quickly ran off to tell the chef. Kagome didn't recognize him. "Must be new." She said to Sango, who nodded absently, fiddling with a red straw.  
  
"How come InuYasha's back?" She suddenly asked, chewing on the plastic cylinder.  
  
"Who?" Kagome glanced around the bar, distracted. She was looking for people she knew... feeling very much the social butterfly in her... heightened state.  
  
"InuYasha... You know... Your boyfriend?"  
  
"Oh yeah, him. I dunno... We haven't talked in days, and he hasn't been answering my phone calls, so I'm kinda pissed at him for the moment. That's why I left like that." Kagome shrugged. "I WAS excited to see him, but still... I won't forgive him that easy."  
  
"Oh...my god." Sango suddenly dropped the straw from her mouth, and hit her head against the counter they were sitting behind. Kagome glanced at her, eyebrows raised.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I was totally all over Miroku back there! He's going to think that I... that he... that we..."  
  
"Oh get over it... You like him and you know it!" Kagome rolled her eyes. Sango blushed. They were both coming down from their stupor, and all they were now was very, very hungry.  
  
"Hey can you hurry it up with those rolls please!" Sango yelled into the kitchen, changing the flow of the conversation with her demand. Turning around, Sango sighed as she saw Miroku, InuYasha, and Koharu walking up to them.  
  
"Mayday, mayday..." She whispered, sitting down next to Kagome. Kagome nodded slightly, and prepared herself for fake happiness.  
  
"I am really getting so sick of... HEY GUYS!" She called out once they neared hearing range. "Glad you could make it."  
  
"Why'd you run off like that?" InuYasha growled, taking a spot next to Kagome. Miroku sat next to Sango, much to her dismay, and Koharu sat on his other side.  
  
"I'm STONED remember?" Kagome shot back at InuYasha with a growl. InuYasha grabbed her chin and made her look at him. He peered into her eyes, searching.  
  
"No you're not. You're off it now." He shook his head, letting her go. Kagome stuck her tongue at him.  
  
"Well I was when I ran off." She retorted.  
  
"Can we talk?"  
  
"About what?"  
  
"SesshoMaru. Are you okay?"  
  
"Of course I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?"  
  
"You know why..."  
  
"Yeah, yeah. I'm FINE. Why does everyone keep stressing this? Alls I want is to catch that bastard, and get my million."  
  
"A MILLION!?"  
  
"...Miroku didn't... tell you yet?" Kagome shot the death glare at her boss, who was whistling innocently. He already had a handprint on his face, and Sango was steaming beside him, her head in her hands.  
  
"No way is my bastard of a brother worth one million!"  
  
"Well, actually... He's worth 500,000. We've just got two payers."  
  
"Jesus... The cops and... who else?"  
  
"Kagura's Watanbe's husband, Onigumo something-or-other." Kagome sighed, fiddling with her straw and wondering where the hell her sushi was.  
  
"Kagome, my brother is a very dangerous, very powerful man...you of all people should know what you're getting into." InuYasha took Kagome's hand in his.  
  
"Of course I know what I'm getting into. It's the money I want. Think about what we could do with 500,000. We could... buy a really nice house..." Kagome suggested timidly, not knowing if InuYasha was ready for that much commitment yet. Her boyfriend surprised her by grinning.  
  
"I've got a better idea." He stated shyly, standing up. Kagome looked up at him, confused.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
InuYasha lowered to the ground, on one knee, still holding Kagome's hand. Her heart lept into her mouth. Oh god no way was he going to...  
  
"Kagome Higurashi... how 'bout we use that 500, 000 for a wedding..."  
  
"Oh my god..."  
  
"Will you please do the honor of marrying me?" The guy pulled out a red case from his back pocket and flipped it open. On the inside, was a huge diamond engagement ring.  
  
The entire sushi bar went silent, as everyone turned his or her heads to InuYasha and Kagome. Sango, Miroku, and Koharu had their jaws dragging on the floor. They hadn't expected this. Kagome stared at InuYasha, words suddenly becoming stuck in her throat.  
  
"Ah... InuYasha... do you realize that you're proposing to me... in a sushi bar?"  
  
"Um, yeah... Sorry, I couldn't wait any longer... This is why I came home so early, I just couldn't wait!" InuYasha exclaimed eagerly, love clear on his face. Kagome mulled it over, her smile never leaving her face.  
  
Should I? Or shouldn't I?  
  
"Kagome, please don't disappoint me with a 'no'. I love you so much, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."  
  
Oh please girl, how could you pass up his puppy-dog eyes? Go on, tell him what you want to say.  
  
"Of course I'll marry you InuYasha!" Kagome flung herself into her boyfriend (now turned fiancé) 's arms. The bar went wild as the two shared a passionate kiss.  
  
"Oh my god this is so beautiful and romantic and, and, and..." Sango sobbed, her fists clutched at her face. Koharu had to hold her up as she cried into her shirt.  
  
"WAAAAHHH!!! Oh Kagome, please let me be your bridesmaid!" Sango then stumbled over to Kagome, and the girls screamed and hugged each other. InuYasha covered his ears, but grinned.  
  
"Why do girls always do that?" He turned to Miroku.  
  
"Believe me," The black haired man said, slapping InuYasha on the back, "It's a good thing." Chapter Nine Whatever it was that Kagome was mad at InuYasha for was soon forgotten. As well as the sushi. Everyone exited the bar, InuYasha's arms wrapped around Kagome's waist, and a new spark ignited between them. It wasn't long before it was extinguished, unfortunately...  
  
"I have to go..." InuYasha kissed Kagome's forehead.  
  
"What? Where?" She exclaimed fitfully. He had just got back!  
  
"I told you, I came back because I couldn't wait any longer to ask you to marry me. But now I have to go back to work..."  
  
"Aw..."  
  
"I'll be home in a few weeks, don't worry. Then we can start planning."  
  
"Ooh, yay." Kagome whispered seductively in his ear. The two shared another kiss, and then said their goodbyes as InuYasha climbed into his new Corvette and sped off. Kagome sighed.  
  
"Wow, someone pinch me." She said to herself. Sango pinched her anyways.  
  
"OW! I wasn't serious!"  
  
"Well you sounded serious to me."  
  
Kagome sighed.  
  
"Let's go home... it's been a long day." She suggested. Sango nodded in agreement, yawning.  
  
"A very, very long day... full of surprises and uh... new experiences."  
  
Kagome giggled, and they all piled into Sango's convertible, Kagome graciously leaving the passenger seat for Miroku as she climbed in the back with Koharu, a slight grin on her face.  
  
"Wow, Kagome! You must be so excited!" Koharu clapped her hands together in glee, referring to InuYasha's proposal. Kagome smiled as they pulled out of the parking lot.  
  
"Yeah..." Hmm... Interesting. Why wasn't she as happy as she should be? She loved InuYasha, right? ...Right?  
  
Kagome and Koharu chatted in the back seat while Miroku and Sango flirted in the front, and by the time they had dropped of Koharu at her house and had arrived at the apartment, Sango hesitated.  
  
"Umm... If it's alright with you... Uh... Miroku's asked if I want to come over to his place for a bit... Just for a couple of hours to uh... go over the whole SesshoMaru thing..." Sango whispered to Kagome, her hand to her friend's ear once she had gotten out of the car. Kagome grinned.  
  
"Knock yourselves out, I'll be fine... I'm so tired, it doesn't really matter anyway."  
  
"Are you sure?" Sango asked worriedly as Kagome made her way up the walk.  
  
"Night you two!" She called behind her shoulder, waving. Kagome laughed lightly as the two drove out of sight. She was happy Sango had finally admitted to her attraction to Miroku. They were so cute together! Suddenly, Kagome frowned, stopped, and turned around. Something was out of place in the parking lot... There! A yellow Ferrari was parked a few spaces down. That had never been there before...  
  
Oh please, Kagome. You're just paranoid. Some kid's probably visiting someone... But that car... SesshoMaru has a yellow Ferrari too...  
  
Stop it! SesshoMaru is not here! Why would he be? He knows you're hunting him!  
  
Kagome shook her head and opened the door to the apartment complex. She took the elevator to her and Sango's place, her mind blank. She felt weird. Shouldn't she be thinking about InuYasha and the great life they were going to have together and everything?  
  
Not really... I mean... Jesus Kagome, you caught the man with another woman just a month ago!  
  
Then why did I say yes, huh? Tell me that!  
  
You felt that's what you needed to do.  
  
No... I love InuYasha.  
  
Oh, really now?  
  
"Would you just shut-up!" Kagome whispered harshly at herself as the elevator's door slid open.  
  
"Do you usually talk to yourself?" A man's voice asked chillingly. Kagome gasped and looked up, and standing before her, arms crossed and leaning against her apartment door, was none other than SesshoMaru!  
  
Kagome instantly reached for her gun, and then swore when she realized she had put it back in the glove compartment of Sango's car after Miroku had gone back to Toutousai's to get if for them. She growled, not liking to be unarmed.  
  
"What are you doing here?" She spat, stepping out of the elevator. SesshoMaru sighed, and stood up straight.  
  
"Relax. It's not like I want to be here. But I really need to talk to you."  
  
"Is that right?"  
  
"Kagome, listen to me... That whole deal at Sakura Square, it was a set up! I've been framed! And Naraku Watanbe may be coming after you..."  
  
"SHUT UP! Don't you lie to me; I know you killed that Kagura chick. We have proof!"  
  
"Oh yeah? And what proof is that!?"  
  
"You're finger prints are on the murder weapon!"  
  
"Well of course they are! It's my sword. That doesn't mean I killed anyone with it!"  
  
"Then pray tell who did, SesshoMaru!"  
  
"Look, can we take this inside? It's a private matter, and I have to explain everything to you before it's too late."  
  
Kagome stared at SesshoMaru. The last time they had been this close to each other, he had shot her.  
  
"Why should I trust you?"  
  
"What have I ever done to betray your trust!? You're the one that went off with MY brother!"  
  
"I told you already, I never cheated on you!"  
  
"Then why did I see you two kissing that day that I shot you, huh? What was that all about!? Mind explaining that to me!?"  
  
"What!? That wasn't me! Why are we even arguing about this, anyways? It was five years ago!"  
  
"BECAUSE Kagome, it still hurts me to look at you."  
  
Silence. Then SesshoMaru realized what he had said. He swore under his breath while Kagome stared wide-eyed at him.  
  
"Whoa... this is seriously some fucked up shit..."  
  
"Yes, I realize that. Now, can we go inside so I can talk to you? You are in danger, Kagome!"  
  
This time, SesshoMaru's warning registered in Kagome's brain.  
  
"...Huh?"  
  
"I'm not telling you anymore, until we can sit down in your apartment and have a civilized conversation. This is ridiculous, arguing in front of an elevator."  
  
Kagome stared at the beautiful man. God, if anyone caught SesshoMaru in her apartment... wait, what was she thinking! This man was a walking, talking, million-dollar paycheck!  
  
Oh right, Kagome. Like you can take the guy without your gun. He'd squash you like a fly.  
  
"Fuck... Fine. Just move so I can unlock the door." Kagome grumbled, pushing past her ex. She thrust her key into the lock and swung the door open. "Homicidal maniacs first." She exclaimed politely to SesshoMaru, who merely sneered at her.  
  
"You always were a smart-ass."  
  
"And you were always a bitter, unfeeling bastard. I think we're pretty even."  
  
"Touché."  
  
"I don't think so, I'm no where near done yet."  
  
Kagome followed SesshoMaru in, and closed the door behind her. She dropped her purse on the counter, and was greeted by a fur ball at her feet. Moving Buyo out of the way, she spotted Kirara on the couch, licking her paws. Apparently the two had still not settled their differences, for Buyo had lots of claw marks on his back.  
  
SesshoMaru slumped onto their blue couch without invitation, sinking into the many pillows. Growling, he threw them aside, one by one, onto the floor.  
  
"What's with the over-decoration?"  
  
"Sango's into pillows. Now say what you came here to say and then get the fuck outta my apartment."  
  
"Hey, I'm risking my ass to tell you this. You should be kissing the ground I walk on right now!"  
  
"What for!? Just because you managed to get to this apartment building without the cops noticing you!?"  
  
"No, because I came all the way over here, risking my freedom in front of a bounty hunter that wants what I'm worth, just to save her because I'm a gentleman and that's what I do!"  
  
"Riiiggghhhttt... Nope, sorry. Don't buy that story for a millisecond."  
  
"Then you better get used to small, dark spaces and the scent of freshly dug earth, because your coffins waiting for you." SesshoMaru retorted. Kagome growled, but shut up. She pulled up a stool and sat.  
  
"Alright, spill it."  
  
"First you have to promise me you won't take me to the station after I'm done. And then not chase me at least until this time tomorrow."  
  
"Deal."  
  
"...That was a very fast response. Now I don't believe you."  
  
"Oh please, SesshoMaru. How am I going to get you all the way to the station? I don't have my gun with me, and I'm not exactly a karate expert either. Just a sharp shooter. I think you're pretty safe for the moment."  
  
"You mean you're pretty much helpless without your gun?" SesshoMaru smirked. Kagome almost bit his head off.  
  
"Shut the fuck up. At least I can defend myself!"  
  
"You saying that I can't!?" SesshoMaru yelled back, then calmed down with a sigh. "Look, this isn't getting us anywhere... We keep pissing each other off. Why do you hate me so much?"  
  
"I don't hate you!" Kagome stated harshly, and then took a deep breath to calm herself down. "If you would believe it, I'm the only one that defends you anymore, about the whole shooting me thing. I know you didn't do it on purpose..."  
  
"I didn't think you did... But then Toutousai said that's why you didn't press charges, was because you kept saying I didn't mean to... Which you know I didn't."  
  
"So then I was right!" Kagome suddenly became furious again. "You knew I was going to interrogate Toutousai so you made him get us stoned so I'd have a loose tongue around him and tell him the things you've been wanting to know!" She accused. SesshoMaru stared at her, then quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"Toutousai got you stoned? He told me that you answered his questions quite willingly."  
  
"WELL YEAH, because I was baked off my ass this afternoon!"  
  
SesshoMaru smirked once again at Kagome, his eyes flashing with amusement.  
  
"All I told Toutousai was to ask you a few questions I had if you showed up for an interrogation. I would have asked you myself, but I didn't think you would listen to me. This was before I found out that Naraku might be coming after you. I just figured that out earlier today."  
  
Kagome sighed, willing herself to stop being so snappy.  
  
"Okay. I'm listening now. Go ahead."  
  
"Glad to hear it. You want to get if from the beginning?"  
  
"Oh yes, please. Enlighten me." Kagome sneered sarcastically, not being able to hold that comment back.  
  
"Fine. I will anyways. You need to know this." SesshoMaru cleared his throat; ready for the long and complicated story he needed to tell.  
  
"Naraku and I, have some differences, you might say. The hatred we share of each other goes way back. He's the owner of a major jewelry company: Watanbe Jewelry, and my father was offered a very well paying job from Naraku himself, since he was a well-known and talented salesman. At first, everything was going great, but it didn't take long for us to figure out that underneath all of the jewelry hype, was a kind of gemstone black market. Naraku stole diamonds, sapphires, rubies, anything, you name it, and he'd swiped it. He even had his own little illegal mining company in western Africa, and he would get shipments by the tons to his plant, where under-paid and mostly blackmailed workers would cut and polish the stones. My father found this out, and confronted Naraku about it, wanting to bring this insult to the jewelry business to the public. Naraku was furious, and tried to stop my father before he did anything, but he was a smart and quick man, and already the press knew some of the details. The details grew into assumptions, and soon Naraku's business was under close observation, and he lost a lot of money. I'm talking like, three fourths of his profits. Soon, Naraku would have gone bankrupt, and he decided that wasn't going to happen." SesshoMaru paused at this point in the story, gazing off into space. Kagome had a strong urge to comfort him, but she settled with fidgeting on her stool. SesshoMaru continued.  
  
"Since Naraku Watanbe is a very powerful and dangerous man, he has many powerful and dangerous cronies. Two of which, are the most talented assassins in the world: His younger sisters Kagura and Kanna. He sent his sisters after my side of the family, namely my father, my mother, and me. They killed my mother and father, but I escaped somehow... and went to live with my half brother and his mother. By then I was only five years old... but even then I could feel the hatred and rage bubbling inside me from what I knew Naraku had done. To this day, I've tried to exploit his business. But who believes a punk like me? It's my word against a huge business associate and his corporation."  
  
SesshoMaru took in a deep breath, calming himself down. This was very hard to talk about.  
  
"How come Kagura and Kanna Watanbe didn't kill you?" Kagome interjected, curious.  
  
"I told you, I managed to escape somehow."  
  
"Then why don't they try to kill you now?"  
  
"Because I've made Naraku so pissed, he wants to do something worse than kill me."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"I don't think he's made up his mind yet."  
  
"...All this time... even when we were seeing each other... and you didn't even tell me?"  
  
"Nothing happened after the night Kagura and Kanna killed my parents, not until I started to take my revenge on him. Or try at least. I first started this when I was nineteen, and knowledgeable about the work he was doing, and the black market he was running. Some of my attempts to bring this to public have been successful, but most..." He shook his head in frustration. "Still, the attempts that do follow through make Naraku mad, and I've hurt him in the finance business many times. He wants me to suffer..."  
  
"This is horrible!"  
  
"No, this is just the beginning..."  
  
Kagome had known that SesshoMaru's parents were dead, but she had never found out why. SesshoMaru had lived three houses down from her the entire time they were growing up with InuYasha and his mother. She had never really thought about... any of it.  
  
"So you wanted revenge... is that why you... killed Kagura?"  
  
"I DIDN'T KILL HER!!!" SesshoMaru brought his fist slamming down onto the couch in fury, his face twisted in rage. Kagome fell backwards off of her stool.  
  
"Ow..." She rubbed her head and sat up, looking at SesshoMaru from the floor. "Okay, okay. You didn't kill her... But then, who did? What really happened that night?"  
  
SesshoMaru sighed, his fist trembling still, but his anger simmering.  
  
"I'd finally had enough. Jaken has been an old family friend for years, as well as Toutousai, and they'd jumped to the idea of revenge. I told Naraku to bring his sisters and meet me at Sakura Square. I told him we would settle our differences the old-fashioned way, or die at each other's hands. I'd had it... I just wanted it all to end. Jaken and Toutousai brought their guns, and I brought my family sword... I'm very accomplished in swordsmanship." SesshoMaru grinned bitterly, as if he was proud of this, yet not proud. "Sure enough, everyone showed up. Kagura and Kanna had no weapons, but their bodies were most likely sufficient enough to do any fighting, and Naraku had his own sword. We argued for a bit, then Naraku told me something that made me... It made me go kind of psycho. I blew up, and we all started fighting. Jaken and Toutousai with Kagura and Kanna, and then me and Naraku. Somewhere along the line, he knocked my sword out of my hand, and I was left weaponless. I knew I couldn't take him like that, and Jaken and Toutousai had already been disarmed, so we uh... we split."  
  
"You ran away?" Kagome snorted.  
  
"No! We just knew that any further attempts would be futile. But Naraku called after me, he said: This isn't over yet, SesshoMaru. I will have my revenge; you are the last I need to dispose of! Next thing I knew, he called my house saying that I'd better start running again, because I'd just killed his sister. Then he hung up. I put two and two together and realized that he was going to frame his sister's death on me. So I went to Rin's, since she'd owed me a favor, to hide out until one of my buddies could pick me up. They never showed, so I assume Naraku had something in store for them. Now I can't risk anyone else to help me. Unless of course, they're already wanted by Naraku." SesshoMaru looked down at Kagome, who was staring at him, listening intently. She noticed his gaze, and looked back up at him.  
  
"What... he wants me?" Kagome asked innocently, her mind whirring for reasons why a notorious jewelry company owner would want to come after her. Nope, couldn't think of anything.  
  
"Yeah uh... apparently, you have something that he wants."  
  
Kagome blinked.  
  
"...No I don't."  
  
"Yeah, you do."  
  
"Then what is it?"  
  
"A ring."  
  
"A ring... All the rings I have are costume jewelry!"  
  
"You sure about that?"  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
"Well, apparently something very valuable of Naraku's accidentally slipped through his fingers, a diamond ring that he nick-named the shikon no tama..."  
  
"You mean that one gem thingy that supposedly had magical powers way back when? Who in the right mind would nick-name a ring..."  
  
"Yeah that one. The ring is so beautiful, and has such a presence, that Naraku just had to name it after his favorite imaginary item. He lost it somehow, but traced it down to a pawnshop on the edge of town. Once he got there, he found out that someone had already purchased it. He demanded to know the name of the person that had bought it, so the guy behind the desk told him after some... persuasion."  
  
"...And?" Kagome urged him on. How did she have anything to do with this?  
  
"And the name given to him was InuYasha's."  
  
Kagome stared at him, her mouth open in disbelief.  
  
"No way!"  
  
"Yeah, he asked around and found out that InuYasha was going to give the ring to you... for some reason..." SesshoMaru looked at her suspiciously.  
  
"But what would InuYasha do with a... OH. That ring... heh, heh, I forgot..." Kagome reached into her pocket and pulled out the diamond engagement ring InuYasha had given to her. She had been fiddling with it, slipping it on and off, and had finally tucked it out of her vision so she didn't have to think about it. And it had worked, she had almost forgotten about the ring, the proposal, everything. SesshoMaru showing up had pretty much wiped the slate clean.  
  
"That's it!" SesshoMaru's eyes widened as he plucked the ring from Kagome's fingertips to examine it. "So he did give it to you! This isn't good..." He shook his head.  
  
"This is the shikon no tama thinger that Naraku wants? Why does he want it so much, though? How much is it worth?"  
  
"Around 500 million."  
  
"...Oh...my god. I've been wearing a 500 million dollar ring... Oh god..." Stars swirled in front of Kagome's eyes. "How could InuYasha ever afford a 500 million dollar ring?"  
  
"He couldn't. He only paid around 200 for this baby. The pawnshop had no idea of it's worth, so they just made a wild guess. They were off by a bit..."  
  
"Yeah, a bit..."  
  
"Why did InuYasha give this to you?" SesshoMaru returned the ring to Kagome.  
  
"Uh... he uh... He proposed to me. About an hour ago..."  
  
"HE WHAT!?" Chapter Ten "Erm...yeah... Ha, ha, um... surprise?" Kagome exclaimed meekly, holding up a finger. Looking down at the ring she had in her other hand, she realized something. "Hey wait a minute... that cheapskate bastard bought me an engagement ring at a pawnshop!?"  
  
"HE ASKED YOU TO MARRY HIM!?"  
  
"I can't believe that he went to a fucking pawnshop! And then only spent two hundred dollars on it! I saw that Corvette, he has more money than that damn it!"  
  
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"  
  
"I can't believe him! Man, I forgave him about the whole Kikyou thing because he seemed sorry but this is crossing the line here..."  
  
"HE ASKED YOU TO MARRY HIM!?"  
  
"You've already screamed that, hon.'." Kagome pointed out, looking up at the fuming SesshoMaru. What was he so mad about? Then it donned on her. "Hey... You're jealous!"  
  
SesshoMaru took in a deep breath, and tried to set his features back to normal. It took a few minutes.  
  
"No. I'm not." He growled, proving otherwise.  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"Am NOT!"  
  
"Are TOO!"  
  
"AM NOT!"  
  
"ARE TOO!"  
  
"Alright, fine. I'm jealous alright..." He threw his hands in the air. Kagome grinned.  
  
"Aw..."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"You still uh... like me?"  
  
"...Yeah. What of it?"  
  
"Well, I don't like you."  
  
"What for!?"  
  
Kagome raised her eyebrows at SesshoMaru, who sighed.  
  
"So I shot you..."  
  
"And tricked me into having sex with you when I was FIVE!"  
  
"Are you STILL on about that!? I said I was sorry a billion times! And hey, I didn't know what I was doing either! I think I might have seen it on TV. or something..."  
  
"Oh god, SesshoMaru. See, this is why I don't like you. You are really, really perverted."  
  
"Just because I enjoy sexual activities and just because we've done it more than I want to be able to count doesn't mean I'm perverted! If I'm perverted, then you're perverted too, because you were there for it all."  
  
Kagome stuck her tongue at him.  
  
"Look, this still isn't getting us anywhere. Naraku will come after you for that ring."  
  
"No WAY am I giving up a 500 million dollar ring!"  
  
"Because InuYasha gave it to you?" SesshoMaru sneered.  
  
"NO. Because that is a shit load of money, and I'm a bounty hunter. Bounty hunters like money." Dollar signs flickered on and off in front of Kagome's eyes. "I can finally get my black PT Cruiser... And a mansion... and a Jacuzzi and swimming pool... and butlers and maids... and a chef! Yeah! I want a chef..."  
  
"You would sell your engagement ring for..." SesshoMaru shook his head. "Look Kagome! Let me spell it out for you! YOU...ARE...IN...DANGER!!!"  
  
"Yes, I realize that."  
  
"... So give the ring to me so I can dispose of it!"  
  
"HELL NO!!! This baby's mine!" Kagome clutched the ring possessively to her chest. "I got it fair and square."  
  
"Naraku will kill for this ring!"  
  
"He can't kill me!"  
  
"Naraku could kill the president of the United States if he wanted. Now please, give me the ring."  
  
"How do I know you don't just want it so you can run out of town and sell it off and then live happily ever after with all MY money and with Rin Matsumoto, HUH?" Kagome spat out before she could stop herself. SesshoMaru stared at her.  
  
"Rin Matsu... What the hell, Kagome!?"  
  
"First you shot me, and then after I forgave you because I knew it was an accident, you ran off with Rin! How could you do that!?"  
  
"That was five years ago!"  
  
"You know... I think I said that some time back... YOU HYPOCRITE!"  
  
"Kagome, how was I supposed to know that you would come back to me after I shot you!? Any normal girl would try and stay as far away from me as possible!"  
  
"THEN I GUESS I'M NOT NORMAL!"  
  
Silence cloaked the room, then SesshoMaru raised an eyebrow, smirking.  
  
"Admit it, you DO like me."  
  
"Oh please... Not this again... No, I don't. I just have a disease that makes me go back to the ones that hurt me..." Kagome sighed, thinking about InuYasha. SesshoMaru caught her drift.  
  
"InuYasha hurt you? That bastard... What did he do!?"  
  
"I... I caught him making out with Kikyou... Nothing too horrible, but he knows that Kikyou and I hate each other. I mean, at least they weren't having sex or anything... At least, that's what I keep telling myself."  
  
"And then you say yes when he asks you to marry him?" SesshoMaru let out an unbelievable laugh.  
  
"Well it's a hell lot better than shooting me! Even if it was on accident!"  
  
"But I'm not asking you to marry me, am I?"  
  
That one got her. Kagome shut her mouth, furious.  
  
"Well now you know how I feel. It's called karma, babe."  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes.  
  
"I didn't cheat on you, SesshoMaru. Maybe the girl you saw kissing InuYasha was Kikyou. Everyone says we're like twins..." She stopped, then realized that that must be it. She looked up at SesshoMaru with accusing eyes. "You mistook Kikyou for me that night!"  
  
SesshoMaru stared at her, then shut his eyes in remorse.  
  
"Oh shit..."  
  
"OH SHIT IS RIGHT YOU ASS HOLE! That wasn't me! That was Kikyou! Her and InuYasha have ALWAYS had a thing for each other. I don't understand why we didn't see it before... they were dating the same time we were! I can't believe you!"  
  
"WELL YOU DIDN'T FIGURE IT OUT EITHER!"  
  
"WOULD YOU TWO EITHER JUST SHUT UP OR GET A FUCKING DIVORCE! YOUR DRIVING ME NUTS!" Someone banged on the ceiling from upstairs, making the popcorn material shower down on them. SesshoMaru and Kagome shut their mouths instantly, then sighed in relief once the banging stopped.  
  
"The guy's right. We need to stop yelling at each other and focus at the real matter at hand. Not what happened in the past."  
  
"Look, lets just say this: I'm sorry for whatever it was that you thought I did, and..."  
  
"I'm sorry for whatever it was that you thought I did too. Now lets just forget about everything, and start over..."  
  
"Oh no, I am not going to forget that easy! A lot of shit happened between you and me, SesshoMaru..." Kagome began, and the cut SesshoMaru off when he tried to angrily interrupt her. "BUT, I will give you a chance to redeem yourself, since you've been such a good boy since you ran off with Rin."  
  
"I didn't run off with Rin! I just didn't expect you to come back to me."  
  
"What-EVER."  
  
"God, you are impossible."  
  
"That's why you like me." Kagome grinned. SesshoMaru rolled his eyes.  
  
"So what are we going to do about the ring, since you won't give it to me?"  
  
"I could sell it!" Money signs came back to Kagome's eyes.  
  
"Then Naraku would just kill you for the money." Poof. All gone.  
  
"Aw..."  
  
"Look, I have an idea." SesshoMaru said sadly, as if he was going to regret it. "How about this... Since I'm not going to force you to give me the ring, I'll stay here and guard you, just in case Naraku comes along to kill you or whatever. This way you can keep the ring, and we can even draw him to us so I can finally have my revenge." He brought his fist down. Kagome raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You... Stay here. Oh yeah, that will go over REAL well with Sango and InuYasha. Sango wants your price, and InuYasha just wants your head. That won't work."  
  
"I'll protect you from Naraku, you protect me from them." He grinned.  
  
"What makes you so sure I won't drag you in?"  
  
"Because that ring is worth more than me, and if I can keep you safe and get rid of Naraku, you can cash in the ring."  
  
"What's in it for you?"  
  
"Revenge and uh... you can prove that Naraku is framing me. People will believe you, miss famous bounty hunter."  
  
"I'm not famous." Kagome blushed.  
  
"In this city and state you are. Look, Kagome, it's a good deal. You know what a powerful fighter I am, I can take on pretty much anyone if the odds are good. I can protect you from Naraku. And in the meantime, you can prove that Naraku is framing me, and at the end of it all, cash the ring in for it's 500 mill."  
  
Kagome's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Was there a catch to all of this? It did sound like a pretty good deal to her... she would do some snooping, prove that Naraku is the killer, and then get 500 times the amount of cash that SesshoMaru was worth. But how would she hide him from Sango and InuYasha, not to mention everyone else that liked to visit or drop by... She'd have to explain everything to Sango, she lived there. Everyone else, they would just be VERY careful around. Miroku would probably have to know too, since he would wonder why they would drop SesshoMaru's case all of a sudden.  
  
"You better not be tricking me SesshoMaru, I'm trusting you."  
  
"You can trust me. As long as I get to put Naraku away and you can clear my name, I'll do anything." SesshoMaru stuck out his hand. "Deal?"  
  
Kagome looked at his tan hand with perfect nails, and bit her lip. Well... she could always go back on the deal if things got sticky...  
  
"Deal." They shook on it.  
  
Once the two let go of each other, they stared at one another, wondering what they had just gotten themselves into.  
  
"This will be interesting." SesshoMaru stated, shaking his head.  
  
"You'll have to hide your car somewhere."  
  
"Yeah... And I have to bring some things over. I should leave to go get them." He stood.  
  
"So you're gonna be here like, always?"  
  
"Yeah. Naraku could strike at any moment."  
  
"What about when I have to go to work?"  
  
"I'll get a different car with different plates and follow you conspicuously. You're my bait, I won't let you out of my sight."  
  
"That's comforting. But you can't be caught by anyone. They'll flip, and then I will have to turn you in. Sango and Miroku have to know, but other than that..." Kagome shook her head. "Oh, and Shippou too. He has to know."  
  
"That little kid you guys were training when you showed up at Rin's?"  
  
"That's the one. He's our partner until he gets more experience. Oh man, what about Kouga... I forgot about him..."  
  
"Your partner Kouga? Won't he have to know?"  
  
"If he finds out, he won't care about what I say, he'll grab you and take you right into the station. No, Kouga can't know. I haven't seen him for awhile, but I know he's lurking around the city somewhere..." Kagome sighed. "This will be tough work. Once Kouga comes in for an assignment, he'll want the biggest fish out there. Right now that's you. And he's a superb hunter. He'll find you if we're not careful. He'll figure us out."  
  
"Then we'll just be careful." SesshoMaru smiled down at Kagome. She mimicked his smile.  
  
"Yeah... This is definitely the deal to end all deals."  
  
"That's for sure. I'll be back in twenty minutes. I just need to grab some clothes and stuff." SesshoMaru headed for the door, and opened it.  
  
"Wait." Kagome called out as she remembered something, approaching him. SesshoMaru turned around and looked at her expectantly. "You said something Naraku told you made you go psycho at Sakura Square... what was it?"  
  
SesshoMaru stared at Kagome, debating whether or not to tell her. Finally,  
  
"He told me that if I didn't watch my back, everyone that I knew and loved would be gone if I continued my exploitation of his company. He said that there weren't many that he knew I loved, but he could think of one certain girl..." SesshoMaru backed down the hallway and was in the elevator before Kagome could open her mouth.  
  
Was it her? 


End file.
